I'd be lying if I said the losses to Cle, LAL, and SA didn't bother me or cause concern...the difference is that concern doesn't extend out to " we can't beat them in the playoffs" level concern.
Yes, we pulvaraized the competition last year - and the competition got better - whether we are worse or not is a different argument, but our starting 5 became the BEST in the league from last year to this year, so I tend to look at that as more important come playoff time.
As much as it sucks to make "excuses" as well - the Celtics have had circumstances surrounding their losses which do factor in to some degree. The first Laker loss and the 2nd Cavs game this team was finishing a gamut run that was the toughest in the league - for an old team, not practicing and being fatigued certainly played a role.
The recent go around, Boston had a less-than 100 percent KG, Pierce, and maybe more importantly - Kendrick Perkins. Additionally, Brian Scalabrine's absence effects this teams rotation composition.
When playoff time comes all teams would have played a full 82 game schedule - health and injuries at that time are what they are, so you hope your 100 percent - but that certainly wasn't the case during both poor playing streaks, (if you call this a streak.)
LA and Cle are certainly more of a threat this year, but the nature of playoff basketball is different than regular season play when each team has a seperate seasonal storyline going. Come playoff time, the footing becomes a lot more equal and the game comes down to personnel implementation and strategic adjustments.
I KNOW Boston can beat any team in any arena, even if it won't be as easy as it was last year at the very end. I'm good with that, I expect the team to improve over the last 30 games of the regular season, and I think Championship basketball is still within these players and will come out more consistently when series play forces you to look in the mirror and get back to work against the same opponent night after night.
Its one thing to remember a loss and then rely on what's currently working against other teams when formulating a battle plan for the rematch. Its another thing to feel the sting of a close loss one night and then spend the next 48 hours preparing to face that exact same thing again.
Regular season play gives teams weeks and sometimes months to develop rhythm, implement new strategy, and build up the production of various players - when you face an opponent every night, the variation in play is much more subtle and the adjustments that much more effective - the game "lives" in a way it doesn't in the regular season..
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