As I have said here before, I think the negativity and doom and gloom associated with this team during their time of crisis has been astounding and bothersome. I just don't understand good, smart basketball and Celtics fans not reailzing that this team was decimated with injuries and that it would eventually take it's toll. The Celtics became a different team and losses, to whomever(Clippers, Bucks, Heat) were going to be an inevitability. You just can't lose a third of your roster and think that wins are going to continue at an 80% clip. It just doesn't happen.
But if the two losses against the Heat and Magic and the two wins versus the Cavaliers and Spurs have taught us anything, it is that Boston should be feared by other teams big time come the playoff season. This team, although still hurting with Ray nursing an elbow, Rondo hobbling with an ankle, KG not able to give more than 15 minutes, Baby barely back, Pierce fighting exhaustion, Eddie nursing an ankle and Scal, Tony, and Leon out, went down to Texas and beat the Spurs on their home court. San Antonio, in case anyone hadn't noticed, had a pretty decent home record and is considered one of the 4-5 best teams in the league.
Two Fridays ago, the Celtics slapped around the Cavaliers and King James in Boston when they had even more people out hurt. That's two of the best four other teams in the league, beaten within a two week span where Boston was reduced to being a team on intravenous due to an epidemic of injuries. Yet, some of the smartest basketball minds around the nation and at this site were writing out an early eulogy for this team's 2008-09 season.
Shame on you people!!!
If these games proved anything it is that these Celtics are the team to beat come this June no matter where they play. They have weathered the storm and are beginning to get healthier. They have KG back for one game and the intensity on defense returns immediately. The swagger is back. The confidence is there. And the heart of a champion that showed itself through and through during some courageous basketball during this stretch, just keeps beating stronger than ever.
Watch out league. KG will be back to full strength and minutes within a 10 day period. Tony and Leon will be back before the playoffs. The chemistry will flare up again and the Celtics will definitely be THE team to be reckoned with come playoff time. They will be the proverbial, Team No One Wants To Play, once the regular season ends.
If they can win games, and not just games but big games against big time opponents, while in their M*A*S*H unit mode, no one is going to tell me that when they are back to near full strength, which will just so happen to coincide with the beginning of the playoffs, they will not be the team to beat. They are CHAMPIONS to the nth degree and have been showing that in every game. No game has been out of reach. No game was a lost cause and over before it began.
So have faith all you who might have doubted or might have been overwhelmed during this trying time. Even the most faithful and biggest fans can sometimes get nervous during a crisis. But the crisis is subsiding and the true nature of this team perserved and remains and will begin to assert itself once again.