So, today I randomly decided to reread an old ESPN article, a running diary of Game 5 of that amazing Boston-Cleveland second-round matchup during our 2010 Finals run. In other words, Lebron James' last home game as a Cleveland Cavalier. You can find it here. (This was written by Bill Simmons, who I know some people here have strong negative opinions of. However, I think you will agree with me that what he writes is, was (on these subjects), general fan consensus of the Celtics at the time. Here are the relevant parts that I want to talk about:

Of all the shocking things about the Celtics' improbable postseason run -- after all, they looked old and dead for nearly four months -- Garnett's quiet resurgence ranks at the top of the list. He played on one leg for most of the year, got shopped by Danny Ainge at the February deadline (it's true), looked like a salary-cap albatross, seemed mentally off (barking/yapping like Good KG when Good KG was long gone) and generally just sucked.

Then the Quentin Richardson imbroglio happened; it was like a basketball epiphany for him. Garnett has been a different guy since. He's moving pretty well, staying within himself, playing solid defense and toning down the whole chest-punching, all-bark/no-bite routine. His past eight playoff games: 17-8, 53 percent shooting. Even Tuesday night's postgame interview with David Aldridge was surprisingly tame -- just a guy who played a good game calmly discussing it. If you're a Celtics fan, ALL of this is good. All of it. And yes, as recently as four weeks ago, I thought Kevin Garnett was cooked. Done. Finished. I would have bet anything.

Replace "Quentin Richardson imbroglio" with "switch to the Center position", and update the numbers to his performance over the past 8 or so games, and isn't this paragraph EXACTLY what people have been saying this season? Seriously, it could come word for word from any ESPN or CelticsBlog article written this season.

Also look at this:

My thought process at halftime: If the Celtics can come out and throw a haymaker early, Cleveland will tighten up, their fans will become absolutely poop-in-their-pants terrified, everyone will come to the sudden realization that they might be watching LeBron's last Cleveland home game ever, the moment would become so weighty that it would suffocate basically everybody, and the Celtics will cruise to a 25-point win.

How many people were thinking theses same thoughts at half-time in the Miami Heat game on Sunday? How true does this ring of how the Heat actually have played since the All-Star break?

he Celtics were playing with passion and purpose again, two qualities that had been dormant from Christmas through Easter. I hadn't just written them off; I kind of hated them. I couldn't believe that a team just two seasons removed from such a special title season would mail in a half-season like that. The halcyon days of ubuntu were long gone. When I predicted them to lose to Miami in Round 1, my cagey readers thought it was a reverse jinx. Nope. I really thought we would lose. The Celtics had given me no reason to think they might show up for the playoffs. None.

There are three types of sports fans: hopelessly devoted, rationally passionate and irrationally passionate. I am the latter. I overreact to big wins. I fly off the handle with bad losses. When things are going wrong with one of my teams, I become exceedingly sarcastic and biting (as anyone who reads me can attest). That's just my DNA. I can't help it. I am a full-fledged, unapologetic over-reactor

How many C's fans, and posters on these forums, have thought this at any time this season?

And normally, you'd think the game was over … unless you've been watching this Celtics team all season. The Celtics love to blow leads.

ALSO true, now.

If Rondo and Nash make the Finals, doesn't that alter the "Chris Paul or Deron Williams is the best point guard alive" argument? I say yes.

Replace Nash with Westbrook, and this become a conversation, as well.


Look, I know that 2012 is not 2010. Things have changed overwhelmingly since that Finals run for both the team and the NBA as a whole.

That said, I want everyone to just think about these passages for a second (I also recommend reading the entire running diary. It is full of clutch Ray Allen 3-pointers, Rondo dishes and lay-ups (and missed free throws, heh), Paul Pierce and-1s, Kevin Garnett blocks, etc., etc.). Remember that things have looked just as bleak before. Everyone that was true then, is true now. And, just like then, the C's had more than a puncher's chance at taking #18.

Remember Game 5!!!!