Yeah, unfortunately it's hard not to agree.  Our starters really look maxed out, it's taken career performances from some of them just to get us to 1-1 against the Bulls in two home games, both of which were very close.

Honestly, the Bulls are playing like a 4 seed.  Heck, they're playing better than the Magic are right now.  The fact that this comes at a time when the Celtics are hurting from injuries and their stars are trying to get into a playoff mentality / rhythm means things aren't looking so great for the Celtics.

We just have to hope that a few days of rest and some careful planning with the pieces we have right now (very few) will yield some more encouraging results in Chicago.  If we could take Game 3 in Chicago that would do wonders our outlook, I think.

I really wish our bench weren't so weak.  It's hard not to look at Mikki Moore as a really big disappointment when you look at the sort of production the Cavs are getting out of Joe Smith.  Mikki is good for little more than fouling and the very very occasional mid-range jumper.  House is the only player who contributes with consistency, but he is very much a role player who can't carry the second unit on his own.  Marbury is a player who might have been able to do so in the past but at this point seems to just play well enough not to make things worse (besides being a step down from Rondo, that is).

I want to be more optimistic but all these injuries and our first round bad luck in terms of opponent selection makes it difficult not to feel pretty gloomy about things for the C's.

Did it ever occur to you that the Bulls barely beat us in Game 1 and that we beat them in Game 2? Both of these games the Celtics played, collectively as a team, probably some of the worst basketball we have so far this season. We had 20+ offensive boards last night! That means players are missing tons of shots, something we normally don't do considering our FG % was one of the highest in the regular season. Now, I understand you think that we have had some career performances by some of the players (i.e. Rondo), but like I said, as a whole, its pretty ugly basketball especially by the second unit who hasn't done squat. On the flip side of this, I believe the Bulls are absolutely playing out of their minds right now. I seriously don't think they can play any better than they have. So, if we can even play marginal ball as a team, with the bench providing something, or in their case right now, ANYTHING, we win convincingly.... Just my opinion!

sorry...but boston has been playing at this level for some time now...i just dont see them flipping the switch esp without powe and KG...i think we are all seeing what we feared when the bench was not really addressed in the summer

Put the locks on Rose and Gordon, we can win both games in Chicago and by a wide margin.

sorry...but boston has been playing at this level for some time now...i just dont see them flipping the switch esp without powe and KG...i think we are all seeing what we feared when the bench was not really addressed in the summer

I didn't think the bench was playing too bad toward the end of the regular season...they are definitely streaky and inconsistent but they are due to at least provide something

I agree with prov.  I feel we've taken chicagos best shots, not played anywhere near as good as we can (current team) and we are even.  Game 1 allen was horrible, eddie hasn't had it, pp last game was eh ok.  Our bench at the end of the season was bringing more energy than the starters.  Again they are inconsistant because they are bench players.  If they were better they'd start!
I think scal won't be a factor but hopefully can give pp a few minutes breather.  I still feel we can win this series but if another starter goes out or is banged up anymore we are in trouble.  No rondo we won't win another.
We need davis to play out of his socks (like last game) he has to be getting rebounds or blocking out.  We are down to perk, davis, moore (and scal) for bigs 
.   I don't think we can ask PP to play pf as it is he's overplayed at sf.  Maybe small ball (docs secret love) will win the series for us.

The only way to stay sane in these playoffs with everything swirling around us is to take this one game at a time.  Game 3 is all that matters right now, and then I'll worry about Game 4.  I still think we have enough to win, both Game 3 and the series in general - the Bulls have played out of their heads and we've been mediocre at best.

Overall, though, while I'm not going to knock the pessimists for lining up to toss dirt on a coffin that's not even sealed yet, I think we've just got to enjoy what this team gives us.  With no Powe and Marbury and Moore both playing like duds, we would not only need KG to come back (very unlikely) but we would need him at maximum effectiveness (pretty much physically impossible) to make any kind of real run. 

Injuries are a fact of life in the NBA - if and when we get knocked out, it won't be because the team failed on its own merits, it'll be because we lost a significant amount of our production on both ends, and the other guys just couldn't sustain it for long enough. 

I'm taking these playoffs as a learning experience for Rondo, Perk, and BBD, since every year from here on out they'll be asked to pick up more of the load from the Big 3 on a nightly basis.  Hopefully this series and any to follow will speed up their learning process, and we'll be better for it in the long run.  So far, so good on that count I would say.