Boston Celtics – The Last Hurrah

Just a month and a half ago people had written this team off. They were a tweener; too old to win and too proud to lose. But now the Celtics are showing us there’s still some jump left in those legs. They’re making a big push and reminding teams why they were so feared the past 5 years. They want to go out their way.

It’s no secret that this is the last year of the Big 3. Garnett and Allen both have expiring contracts at the end of this season. Only Pierce, Rondo and Doc will remain from the 2008 championship. They know that this is their last chance together and they appear to have reinvigorated themselves. KG most of all seems to have found the Fountain of Youth. He’s taking more shots than he has in his entire Celtics career. He wants the ball and he wants to take the important shots. Ray Allen has been a big time team player and kept his ego in check while Doc has decided that he will now come off the bench. But two players who have absolutely added a spark to this team are young’uns Avery Bradley and Greg Stiemsma. Bradley has always been a defensive stopper but now he’s added some offense to his game. That well-rounded ability has allowed Doc to play Bradley and Rondo at the same time which is a real nightmare for opposing teams. And Stiemsma, well, what can you say? Celtics fans always root for the seemingly out of place white guy on the team. Remember Brian Scalabrine? Huge fan favorite. Stiemsma was the same way but this past month he’s come up big time. When Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox both went down with long term injuries Stiemsma was thrust into more playing time and boy has he responded.

The Celtics are alive and looking like a team to watch out for in the playoffs. They’re locked into the 4th seed and could maybe even reach the 3rd. But beyond that they no longer look like an easy out. This team will make it to the second round and put up a fight against Miami or Chicago. They have shown that they still have it in them. The NBA may be ready to put a fork in them but if they’re going down then they’re doing it swinging. For Red, for Russ, for the original Big 3, and of course for Perk. How about one more time?