If Miami loses tonight I guarantee Boston in Finals.

[snowball]

I am not going to dredge up the colorful history on these two zebras Joey Crawford and Bill Kennedy with Boston because some of it is years old.
And if you look at the stats you will see plenty of games Boston has won with these characters on the court. These the most heavy-handed refs the NBA has in their ranks.
Joey is the chief tonight. Both the players and Doc will correctly expect a tightly called game in which no bs will be tolerated. Doc better keep his feet on the sidelines and not venture out into the court.
Going to need self-control by both players and coach.
Greg Willard is the 3rd ref, he'll only follow their leads. Joey as head ref will be the one the Celtics talk to. This could be a setup of good cop/bad cop where Joey gives make-up calls for the Celtics and Kennedy puts LeBron and Wade to the line.
All I know for sure is these guys are not shy about infuencing
the outcome of a game. What is the instructions from the head office ?
I do not believe this game to be mandated for Miami.
These goons should be officiating Game 5 in Miami if the fix was in for the Heat.
Don't underestimate the media and fan-drawing power of a "final" chance for Boston's Big 3 to round out their 5 years together and possible retirements of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett with one last shot at a ring.
The NBE can play this up and it will draw huge media
attention. Especially if it's against the Thunder where they can play up the old vs young dichotomy and the Perkins against his old teammates thing.
With Bosh out and very questionable if he ever comes back I am not sold on the idea that Stern is mandating a Heat to the finals this season.
They know they can do that next year and into the foreseeable future. Therefore it is possible that the Puppetmaster has opted to allow Boston in the finals ONE LAST TIME.
By placing Crawford and Kennedy in this Boston home game instead of at Miami it makes me believe that is possible. Why are they placing their most hard-line, controlled goons in this game, when they could have placed them
in the upcoming Gm 5 in Miami and seal the deal ?
It's one of two things, if Miami is the fix, we know it tonight and that's it.
If Miami wins tonight it's over.
But if Boston wins tonight and gets good treatment from the refs, I'm telling you RIGHT NOW that Miami can KISS THEIR SEASON GOODBYE. Because it will mean that the
Head Office instructions are Boston to Finals.

[tyrone biggums]

I hear what you are trying to say...a counterpoint would be that if anything Stern wants this one to go 6-7 games to show that the referees aren't corrupt and make money for the league. Lets face it, a seven game series between the Heat and the Celtics would bring a ton of ratings to the NBA and LeBron and Wade would be able to win at home against their rivals for the second straight year to get to the finals.

[BASS_THUMPER]

fixed liked harlem globetrotters?
naw~theses games are not rigged
Celtics have control over how far we go
no one else

[pearljammer10]

My two bold predictions... One was Thunder in 7 after going down 2 - 0. No one looses a home game through 6 and then Thunder go into SA and take game 7.

For this series... If the Celtics win game 4, they also win game 5. I think if we can keep our home court advantage we can steal game 5 in Miami. Regardless of what happens I do not wanna play a game 7 in Miami. We can get game 5 there but i dunno bout game 7.

[SHAQATTACK]

one at a time.   This is the most important game for Paul Pierce and Team .  Got to have this one at all costs.

I'll take a last sec shot for the win , as nerve racking as it will be . I'm well stocked with adult beveridges and nerve pills .  ..ready to ride the season on or out tonight.

[Moranis]

If this series is tied 2-2 I fully expect Bosh to come back and play game 5 and inspire his team to a victory.  Boston then wins game 6 and all the marbles are on the line in game 7. 

If Miami wins tonight, then they will close it out in 5 and they will save Bosh for the finals.

[Tai]

If this series is tied 2-2 I fully expect Bosh to come back and play game 5 and inspire his team to a victory.  Boston then wins game 6 and all the marbles are on the line in game 7. 

If Miami wins tonight, then they will close it out in 5 and they will save Bosh for the finals.

Bosh will come back when he's ready. If that IS Game 5, so be it, but he's not helping the team by coming back for the sole purpose of "inspiring" them if he comes in and does trashy.

[Celtics18]

fixed liked harlem globetrotters?
naw~theses games are not rigged
Celtics have control over how far we go
no one else

I hate to admit it, but I think the Heat have a say as well.  But, I am sure am getting tired of all these posts claiming that the fix is in from the front office.

The refs suck and sometimes they make bad calls that affect games, but I do not believe that David Stern is sitting in his office controlling the strings on all of this and that the games aren't decided on the court. 

[xmuscularghandix]

I can get with this.

I LOVE the way both Conference Finals are the old guard against the young superstars.

[ScoobyDoo]

As crazy as this team makes me with how many times they give up big leads, there's another I've also noticed about them.

They're like a "slow grind". What I mean by that is that in the series they win you can see them slowly start getting "into" the other team - once that happens, the series is over.

It happened with Philly, the games Boston won as the series went on - they started getting big leads, grinding Philly. It started with game four in Philly, which they gave away. They blew them out in game three, had a big lead in game 4 that they gave up, then blew Philly out in game 5 - eventually won the series.

Move onto Miami:

Game one: lost
Game two: up by 15 at half, up by 5 with 2 minutes to go.
Game three: up by 22 at one point.
Game 4? If the Celtics come out and stick it to Miami again by 10-15+ points?

Mark my words - Boston has gotten "into" Miami and knows what to do to beat them. They could easily take game 5 in a close one, and then blow them out at home in game 6.

Tonight is key because if they blow them out that will mark the 3rd straight game they've had big leads on the Heat, basically dominating them and it means Boston is 100% into Miami... = series over.   

[wiley]

I hope our players don't do any guarantees this year.....

[gpap]

I do agree in the sense that IF the Celtics win the series, they NEED to win tonight. If they do, then they can ride the momentum into Miami, steal a game there on Tuesday and then hopefully wrap it up in Boston for game 6.

I believe that is the ONLY scenario in which the Celtics can win this series.

On the flip side, if Miami wins tonight, they wrap it up Tuesday night in Miami.

I also want NO part of a game 7 because it would be played in Miami, which would be a win for the Heat. I can't see the Celtics beating Miami on the road in a game 7.

[EJPLAYA]

Going out on a limb huh?!  IF we win tonight you are GUARANTEEING a trip to the finals. Even though we haven't won a game in Miami and 2 of the three are there... If you are so confident that you guarantee the advancement, why no confidence in a win today?!

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

My two bold predictions... One was Thunder in 7 after going down 2 - 0. No one looses a home game through 6 and then Thunder go into SA and take game 7.

For this series... If the Celtics win game 4, they also win game 5. I think if we can keep our home court advantage we can steal game 5 in Miami. Regardless of what happens I do not wanna play a game 7 in Miami. We can get game 5 there but i dunno bout game 7.

agreed! Every game is basically a MUST WIN game for us from here on out. I also think if we win tonight we will have a shot to grab game 5 and then if we do that we close them out at home in 6. If not and it goes 7 like you said, it will be us against the world trying to beat the cheat at home in a game 7. It really shows how bad we needed that game 2. we outplayed them. they know it.

[indeedproceed]

My question: If the Celtics win tonight, and don't make the Finals, what's your guarantee worth?

This thread reminds me of a minx coat.