For those who forgot, we lost Game 1 against Cavs in 2010 too...Except...

[CelticConcourse]

Rondo outplayed the MVP of the league in that series.  That's why we won.

Well, we're not playing the MVP of the league in this series, so who cares?

Right, we're only playing the league's leading scorer (who happens to have grown into a very capable defender and solid rebounder).  Melo is not the best player in the league, but he's certainly one of the very best, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate this season.


If you want to make the comparison between that 2010 series and this one, you have to tell me who on our team is going to play like an MVP candidate for the next 4-6 games.

I'll take our teamwork over the MVP candidate, Carmelo. With a team effort, I believe we can beat the Knicks.

Of course, if we don't play cohesively, we might get sent fishing in 5. We need everyone firing on all cylinders for these next few games; Carmelo is a great player, and we'll need everybody clicking to gut out a win.

[PhoSita]

Rondo outplayed the MVP of the league in that series.  That's why we won.

Well, we're not playing the MVP of the league in this series, so who cares?

Right, we're only playing the league's leading scorer (who happens to have grown into a very capable defender and solid rebounder).  Melo is not the best player in the league, but he's certainly one of the very best, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate this season.


If you want to make the comparison between that 2010 series and this one, you have to tell me who on our team is going to play like an MVP candidate for the next 4-6 games.

I'll take our teamwork over the MVP candidate, Carmelo. With a team effort, I believe we can beat the Knicks.

Of course, if we don't play cohesively, we might get sent fishing in 5. We need everyone firing on all cylinders for these next few games; Carmelo is a great player, and we'll need everybody clicking to gut out a win.

Well, you make a good point -- the Celtics in 2010 were a much better TEAM than the Cavs, which was a big part of why they won.

My position is that the Knicks are a better team than the Celtics this season, though.  They are a better built, more versatile team.  Yes, they rely on outside shooting to score, but they defend well, they have good rebounders, they have good passers, they have a bunch of veterans with lots of playoff experience. 

It's pretty hard to find many areas where the Celtics have a decided edge over the Knicks in terms of personnel, honestly.  Rondo was that X-Factor who could take over a game and lift the Celtics to another level.  All along I've been saying since Rondo went down that losing him was most important for the playoffs because it meant we didn't have that x-factor anymore.

Green can step up and have a great half, or even a great game as he did against Miami.  But when he's playing great and scoring he doesn't bring half as much to the table as Rondo does when he's dominating.

[bobbyv]

Hey, guess what! We don't have Rondo and we're a lot older now!

[badshar]

No one thought Rondo would step up and become what he did in that series.

Similarly, we have Green this year and he is perfectly capable to step up like Rondo did and become that difference maker.

[Celtics18]

Rondo outplayed the MVP of the league in that series.  That's why we won.

Well, we're not playing the MVP of the league in this series, so who cares?

Right, we're only playing the league's leading scorer (who happens to have grown into a very capable defender and solid rebounder).  Melo is not the best player in the league, but he's certainly one of the very best, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate this season.


If you want to make the comparison between that 2010 series and this one, you have to tell me who on our team is going to play like an MVP candidate for the next 4-6 games.

My guess is that it will be Paul Pierce.

[CelticConcourse]

Rondo outplayed the MVP of the league in that series.  That's why we won.

Well, we're not playing the MVP of the league in this series, so who cares?

Right, we're only playing the league's leading scorer (who happens to have grown into a very capable defender and solid rebounder).  Melo is not the best player in the league, but he's certainly one of the very best, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate this season.


If you want to make the comparison between that 2010 series and this one, you have to tell me who on our team is going to play like an MVP candidate for the next 4-6 games.

My guess is that it will be Paul Pierce.

In the unlikely case that someone plays like an MVP for 4-6 games, I'm taking Jeff Green. Paul might notch a few triple doubles while KG gets some 20-10 games. All while Bradley plays DPOY defense.

Right? Right?

[Celtics18]

Rondo outplayed the MVP of the league in that series.  That's why we won.

Well, we're not playing the MVP of the league in this series, so who cares?

Right, we're only playing the league's leading scorer (who happens to have grown into a very capable defender and solid rebounder).  Melo is not the best player in the league, but he's certainly one of the very best, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate this season.


If you want to make the comparison between that 2010 series and this one, you have to tell me who on our team is going to play like an MVP candidate for the next 4-6 games.

My guess is that it will be Paul Pierce.

In the unlikely case that someone plays like an MVP for 4-6 games, I'm taking Jeff Green. Paul might notch a few triple doubles while KG gets some 20-10 games. All while Bradley plays DPOY defense.

Right? Right?

I'm sticking with Pierce.  My guess is based on the fact that he's played like an MVP candidate for the past two and a half months. 

Unfortunately, he was only mediocre in game one, while KG was fairly awful.  I expect them both to play better.  I think they'll have to if we want to advance. 

I appreciate all the calls for our role players to play better, I include Green, Bass, Bradley, Terry, Lee, and anyone else who gets on the floor in that category, but if we want any shot at advancing, it's going to take some heavier lifting from our two stars. 

[CelticConcourse]

Y'all don't forget KG is always rusty when coming back from days of rest.

[Loose Cannon]

Two words: Rajon Rondo.

He steps his game up big time in the Playoffs, thus the Celtics are able to flip the switch. He did it in 2009, 2010, and last year.

We were also down to the Hawks 1-0 on the road last season and won game 2 without Rondo and still won the series in 6!

The Hawks? It's disgraceful that we were even down 0-1 to the [dang] Hawks. They've been mediocre for years in the Playoffs.

[CelticConcourse]

Two words: Rajon Rondo.

He steps his game up big time in the Playoffs, thus the Celtics are able to flip the switch. He did it in 2009, 2010, and last year.

We were also down to the Hawks 1-0 on the road last season and won game 2 without Rondo and still won the series in 6!

The Hawks? It's disgraceful they we were even down 0-1 to the [dang] Hawks. They've been mediocre for years in the Playoffs.

4-3 in '08?

[Loose Cannon]

Two words: Rajon Rondo.

He steps his game up big time in the Playoffs, thus the Celtics are able to flip the switch. He did it in 2009, 2010, and last year.

We were also down to the Hawks 1-0 on the road last season and won game 2 without Rondo and still won the series in 6!

The Hawks? It's disgraceful they we were even down 0-1 to the [dang] Hawks. They've been mediocre for years in the Playoffs.

4-3 in '08?

That was just as disgraceful. The Celtics should have swept them but they struggled on the road early in the 2008 Playoffs.

[CelticConcourse]

Two words: Rajon Rondo.

He steps his game up big time in the Playoffs, thus the Celtics are able to flip the switch. He did it in 2009, 2010, and last year.

We were also down to the Hawks 1-0 on the road last season and won game 2 without Rondo and still won the series in 6!

The Hawks? It's disgraceful they we were even down 0-1 to the [dang] Hawks. They've been mediocre for years in the Playoffs.

4-3 in '08?

That was just as disgraceful. The Celtics should have swept them but they struggled on the road early in the 2008 Playoffs.

Oh how I wish for home court advantage....

Good thing we can steal home court tomorrow (why am I still awake)

[BigAlTheFuture]

Our bench was stacked that year. We also had a healthy Garnett, Rondo. We also had Ray Allen. I honestly believe if we had Allen instead of Terry, we would have probably won Game 1 on Saturday. He would have made some big shots for us down the stretch.

I'm not panicking though. Still believe we'll win this series.

[WeMadeIt17]

We also lost last year game one and won without Rondo on the road. So yes it is possible to win and yes the knicks are better then the hawks, but if we can dig in on D just as hard as they did Saturday and get some production from the bench it will be 1-1 going into Boston.

[kg is king]

Except we also had a Paul Pierce that was three years younger as well as a younger KG. Early 30s versus mid 30s is a big difference.