Is Miami really the C's toughest challenge in the East?

[Mike-Dub]

In the East yes they are.  Then I say it's a toss up with the Bulls and Magic. 

The West has more legitimate threats IMO with LA, San Antonio, and Dallas. Good thing we'd only have to see one of those teams in the Finals  (lets just hope it's the one most of us want).

[cman88]

yes, but considering how we beat them with peirce going 0-10 and a 7man rotation with all the injuries, im not afraid of the heat in the playoffs when we have shaq, delonte, marquis(maybe?) and Joneil(maybe?)out there.

I find it funny with a bench rotation of essentially 2 players, we still outscored their bench by a wide margin.

[Witch-King]

...Anyways, onto the point, the Celtics are the Pistons to the Heat from 04-06. In that the Pistons win now but tomorrow is a different story. The Celtics are old as hell, its all or nothing this season. The Heat have a shot to win any postseason series and to under estimate them is just ignorant.

But then again in a season or 2's time you guys will be relegated to watching Miami, Orlando and Chicago every year in the ECFs while your Celtics are out in the first round without KG and Allen.

While it will certainly be a sad sight to 'Witness' the Miami Heat and Durant's Thunder kick all of the 'old' guys out of the leauge these next few seasons in the Boston Celtics case they still have at least two more seasons with 'The Original Big 3' (+ Shaq) to try and win an NBA Championship and to do so they'd probably have to beat Miami, which they've done three times this season already. That's almost an entire playoff series

[2short]

I feel they are the second best team in regular season, at least.  To me the toughest match up for celts is chicago in a playoff series.  They are the most complete team of the others

[hpantazo]

Did you guys happen to watch basketball from 04-06? You must have since the Celtics sucked then...

Anyways, onto the point, the Celtics are the Pistons to the Heat from 04-06. In that the Pistons win now but tomorrow is a different story. The Celtics are old as hell, its all or nothing this season. The Heat have a shot to win any postseason series and to under estimate them is just ignorant.

But then again in a season or 2's time you guys will be relegated to watching Miami, Orlando and Chicago every year in the ECFs while your Celtics are out in the first round without KG and Allen.

That's a pretty poor comparison. This celtics team is a lot closer to the celtics 86 team than the pistons of 04-06. Also, as much as some people want to bury them as being old, their best player is very young (rondo) as is their starting center and 6th man, and the older guys look to be in great shape and have a lot of basketball left in them.

[BballTim]

Did you guys happen to watch basketball from 04-06? You must have since the Celtics sucked then...

Anyways, onto the point, the Celtics are the Pistons to the Heat from 04-06. In that the Pistons win now but tomorrow is a different story. The Celtics are old as hell, its all or nothing this season. The Heat have a shot to win any postseason series and to under estimate them is just ignorant.

But then again in a season or 2's time you guys will be relegated to watching Miami, Orlando and Chicago every year in the ECFs while your Celtics are out in the first round without KG and Allen.

  When the Heat go a few seasons without winning a title they'll split up. Chicago's probably the only team of the three with staying power but they're also loaded with players that haven't really done much in the postseason.

[angryguy77]

Did you guys happen to watch basketball from 04-06? You must have since the Celtics sucked then...

Anyways, onto the point, the Celtics are the Pistons to the Heat from 04-06. In that the Pistons win now but tomorrow is a different story. The Celtics are old as hell, its all or nothing this season. The Heat have a shot to win any postseason series and to under estimate them is just ignorant.

But then again in a season or 2's time you guys will be relegated to watching Miami, Orlando and Chicago every year in the ECFs while your Celtics are out in the first round without KG and Allen.

first of all, we are concerned about this team this year. Anything can happen, we have a great gm and rondo to build around.
And even if we do suck, it wont erase our domination over the heat this year. titles cant be taken away.


Go ahead and think your team will magicaly get better in the playoffs. Good luck with that. unless Riles calls God and signs Him, you might as well use this year for practice.

As I said earlier, unless Stern sends the prime directive, you will lose

[P2]

I'd rank our overall challengers as:

1. LA
2. Miami
3a. Chicago
3b. San Antonio
5. Orlando
6. Dallas

Not a single bit. Excuse me.

It's about the matchups, and I think the Celtics beat everybody in a series if they're healthy, but right now, with at least one rotation player down, our competition is as follows:

1. San Antonio
2. Orlando
3. Dallas
4. Miami
5. Los Angeles
6. Chicago

L.A. is not near where they were 1-2 years ago, and San Antonio and Orlando... I just fear them. Those are the two teams you can never count out in any case! Miami is dangerous, yes, but we clearly have their number. Miami 2011 = Cleveland 2010. Dallas has given us lots of problems, too, and they have tons of potential to knock us off, but that is of course if we don't contribute to it (if you know what I mean). And Chicago... I don't know what to say about them. Rose is just NOT SANE!

But in total, no, Miami is not the team to beat in the East, and once we swallow Orlando, it's basically the third trip to the Finals in four years. And there we'll see. It shall be very interesting and equal power-wise this year, however I don't think L.A. will make the Finals.

Just my $1/50.

[Donoghus]

In the East, Miami & Chicago scare me.  I still think, when healthy, there isn't a team in this league that can beat the Celtics in a 7 game series. 

However, those two teams have the capability to make it a real battle with the Celtics.  An injury here or there come playoff time and either team could take down the Celtics. 

[jaser]

But then again in a season or 2's time you guys will be relegated to watching Miami, Orlando and Chicago every year in the ECFs while your Celtics are out in the first round without KG and Allen.

so why don't you hibernate for two years and wait for the big three to retire? we'll see you then! oh wait, lebron might be a laker in two years. who knows...

[KungPoweChicken]

The Heat will still be the biggest challenge for the C's come playoff time.

This kind of reminds me of the Patriots' season. At the start, everyone was saying the Jets were great. They were going to be the biggest obstacle for the Patriots. Well, then the Pats blew them out in one game, and all the fans in New England were no longer scared of the jets, preferring to play them in the playoffs over the Ravens, Steelers, Colts, etc. To make a long story short, the Jets came back and beat the Pats in the playoffs.  

The moral of that story is I believe the Heat will be very good in the playoffs. We shouldn't underestimate them.

[colincb]

Heat and Magic are both fundamentally flawed.  Bulls worry me more.

Heat have Wade and LBJ over Allen and PP. Because Wade has to cover either Ray or Rondo defensively, he hasn't been as effective in this matchup offensively. PP has the same issue with LBJ.  I'll take KG over Bosh and the Cs everywhere else.  In  close games, the lack of a PG has hurt the Heat badly.

Guard the 3-point line vs the Magic and you beat them. Just like in the past though DH has moved to another level offensively, but is over-rated defensively.

Rose vs Rondo worries me.  Rondo's defense man on man is over-rated IMO especially as I think his physical ailments this year have been overshadowed because of his assists. He's playing more for steals than position and going less to the basket too.

[radiohead]

It's a toss up between Miami and Chicago. In a 7 game series, I think the Bulls have a greater chance than the Heat to beat the Celtics. As it is now, the Bulls will be up against NY in the first round of the playoffs. Hopefully the Heat take on Indiana, a team that's given them fits this season, in round 1. It would be nice to get these two teams banged up before going against each other in round 2. In the meantime, we get Philadelphia and Orlando, before taking on either Miami, Chicago, or NY in the eastern finals. This i think would be the perfect scenario for the Celtics.

[Celtics4ever]

Nope, MIA isn't the hardest just look at the head to head records of the teams.  I think Orlando will be the biggest challenge for us in the East. The records bear this out.  We've beaten the HEAT thrice and they are a poorly conceived team.  Chicago is decent but banged up.  

Both series would not be easy if we played them today.   ORL has beaten us this year, I can't say that for MIA.  If we are healthy none of these teams scare me in the slightest.  With Shaq playing we are way above any team in the NBA that includes the Lakers and SA, IMHO.  But the big question is when will he come back?

[Kwhit10]

I'm a little more scared of Chicago to be honest.  With the playoffs series we've had with them in the past.  The little rivalry between Rondo and Rose.  Thibs coaching them now they know the C's better than they have before, and they have a well built team.