I've gone with Cs in 6 every series, since it seemed like a safe bet. None of the series have gone 6. So I'll pick the Celtics in 6.
Here's a preview of how it's going to go:
Game 1) Dallas goes up 1-0, winning 104-95. Shocker in Boston, as the Celtics seem to come in without a game plan and Luka remains hot. Lively dominates in the paint in KP's first game back, and KP looks disjointed. The media goes nuts and declares the series over. Celticsstrong generates the longest single game thread ever, blaming Tatum's weakness from 3, Brown's turnovers and, of course, Joe's coaching.
Game 2) Tied, 1-1. The Celtics win 120-109. The series "normalizes itself," as Luka remains hot but KP looks more like the old KP, even if he isn't back to mid-season form. Brown gets hot, Jrue bears down on D and the crowd shows up after being silent through most of Game 1. Boston area schools on Monday, June 10 all start an hour late, as 57% of the students stayed up after 11pm to watch the end of the game.
Game 3) Celtics up, 2-1. Finally, the blowout that we were looking for, winning 130-112 in a game that really isn't that close. Everyone on the Celtics shows up and they actually look like they are having fun out there, as Joe rests the starters with a 20 point lead and three minutes left in the game.
Game 4) Tied, 2-2. The Game 2 curse hits, this time on the road, as Dallas wins 111-98. Kyrie dominates with 42 points. The Celtics shoot 24% from 3 in the first half and seemingly forget how to pass the ball, with ISO 3s dominating their play calling, despite the fact that they seem to be able to drive to the basket unimpeded. After the game, Mazzulla simply says, "We have to play better," as the Celticsstrong community bangs its collective foreheads against the wall.
Game 5) Celtics, 3-2. Another recovery game for the Celtics, who win 102-90. Shooting continues to be poor, but the Celtics get nasty on defense and shut down Luka and Kyrie at the perimeter. Media now switches to the Celtics to close it out at home and wonders why the Celtics couldn't have played that level of defense for the entire series. Celticsstrongers agree.
Game 6) Bring out the duckboats! 131-102. Kyrie, realizing that a win means he needs to go back to Boston, curls up in the corner and begs for LeBron. Luka has a solid but not perfect game and Lively plays like, well, a rookie in a close-out game. Celticsstrong crashes due to the large number of Ric Flair memes that are posted.
Two things that I am worried about:
The image of Rocky leaning over a dying Mickey, telling him that the fight only lasted two rounds, not telling Mickey that Mr. T had won. Really don't want that to be us in Mike Gorman's last year.
Game 7 is on the night of my anniversary. I'm trying to think of options here. So far, faking my own death for 24 hours is the best that I can come up with.
Mike
Poll