Games 4 & 5 a Blessing?

[Redz]

I know it's always a good idea to finish a series as quickly as you can, for a number of reasons - chief of which we saw with ouchies for Sheed, Rondo, Baby & Daniels, but there were some positives to it.

The Celtics don't seem to do well with too much prosperity.  They are prone to complacency.  When pushed to the wall, as we saw last night, they react. 

I think the bright side of losing games 4 & 5 is that it brought the Celtics back to earth, and ultimately will make them a tougher team in the Finals.  If they went in coming off a sweep, and riding a 7 game winning streak against the two best records in the league, I'm not so certain they would be at their finest for Game 1. 

Plus, we may never have seen the treat of a performance Nate gave us last night.

So there you go.  While it was tough to sit through, losing games 4 & 5 has a half full glass of green punch as well.  Drink it up.

[Roy Hobbs]

I would have preferred the sweep, but I'm not going to complain.  In addition to the things you stated, Wyc made some more revenue from Game 6, which he can reinvest back into the team, and Ray seemed to get his stroke going.

[Jon]

Given how banged up they got in the past two games, I'd likely say it's not a blessing.  But after Game 3 I suggested the same thing.  Sitting around for a week and a half waiting for the Lakers or Suns also probably wouldn't have been good for the competitive edge.  So I'll call it a wash. 

[snively]

It's always good to be tested.

[Q_FBE]

Did we not have enough of a test in games one and two on the road in Orlando? Seems to me we would have been better off not having to take on two extra games but there is something about the Game 1 rust factor that seemed to plague Orlando after they whipped through Atlanta with no resistance while Boston was battle hardened against Cleveland. Somehow, not playing for 10 days from the Celtics perspective gives the Celtics more time to heal, to practice and focus up, now they only get 5 days off. Oh well.

I think the Celtics have enough veterans on the team and are motivated enough to not lose focus. If they don't win in the finals, it will be because of attrition. We were beginning to lose the war of attrition against Orlando but thankfully Pierce, Rondo, Ray, and Nate Robinson cut off Orlando's head last night.