The 2007-08 Boston Celtics: From Hope to Expectation

4/17/2008

The 2007-08 Boston Celtics: From Hope to Expectation

For each fan, it was an individual epiphany.



Just when did Hope evolve into Expectation for the 2007-08 Celtics? Exactly when did the idea that the Celtics could win the 2008 NBA championship change to the idea that the Celtics should win the NBA championship?

Was it the 117-97 victory over Phoenix on March 26?

Was it the three-game Texas conquest of March 17-18-20?

Was it the 92-85 triumph over the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Jan. 5?

Was it the four-game West Coast sweep of Dec. 26-27-29-30?

Or was it the 103-83 destruction of the Washington Wizards on Opening Night, when EVERYONE COULD SEE that the Big Three had CLEARLY adopted an All-For-One and One-For-All attitude at both ends of the floor?

But that's the reality. The Boston Celtics really are the most logical choice to win the 2008 NBA championship. That's the way the oddsmakers see it, that's the way the Boston fans see it, and that's the way The Captain sees it, too.

"We expect to win this thing," says Paul Pierce. "That's the focus. That's the mentality."

From that riveting start back on Nov. 2 to the crowd-pleasing, sub-fueled victory over the Nets last Wednesday, the Celtics were the most relentlessly great team in the league. En route to the league's best record, the Celtics reached such checkpoints as 8-0, 29-3, 41-9, and, finally, 66-16, the third-best mark in the storied history of the franchise. They lost three straight only once (at Denver, at Golden State, and at Phoenix) and that was when Kevin Garnett was working himself back into shape following a debilitating abdominal injury.

They led the league in fewest points allowed per game and lowest opponents' field goal percentage. They led the league in average victory margin (10.3 ppg) and they won 68 percent (45) of their games by 10 or more points. They had winning streaks along the way of 8, 9, 9, 10, and 7. One can easily argue that they were only out of one game all year, that being the 110-92 March 14 home loss to Utah.

The offense was never an issue. Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen fit together seamlessly, with predictably exquisite collaborations mixed in with timely acts of solo brilliance. The preseason X factor was the maturation process of second-year point guard Rajon Rondo. Would he really be able to control and direct an offense featuring three future Hall of Famers while still finding a way to be at least a token offensive force himself?

Sixty-six victories later, we all have our answer.

But the great revelation this year took place when the Celtics did not have the ball. Would anyone have been surprised if the Celtics had turned out to be one of those delightfully entertaining teams that could never be taken seriously in the postseason because the whole world knows it's never going to D-up when it matters? The answer is no. Yet not for one second in the regular season was this ever an issue. The Celtics started out with a defensive mind-set and they never deviated from the plan.

"That was our challenge, every day," says Garnett. "To be the best defensive team we can be. We take a lot of pride in our defense. If we're going to be a successful playoff team, we've got to continue to be like that."

Out West, teams fought right through Game 82 for playoff seeds. The Celtics have pretty much known they'd have the best record, and thus the home-court advantage for the entire playoffs, for the last two months. And they've known they'd be No. 1 officially long enough to allow coach Doc Rivers the luxury of establishing a playoff-preparation/minute-maintenance plan for the entire month of April.

The last time any of the Big Three played more than 37 minutes in a game was in the aforementioned Phoenix triumph on March 26, when Allen logged 45. None of them even played 30 in the last four games. They each missed two games completely. So no one can accuse Rivers of abusing his veterans.

"I have no idea if the plan has been successful, but the guys do have a great rhythm," Rivers says. "I think the rest has gone well. I think they're rested, I think they're ready, and I think they're healthy. But I've never been through this before. I'm usually just trying to get in [the playoffs]."

Really, now. Who really knows exactly how to calibrate the minutes in a situation like this?

"The last two weeks, in a lot of ways, were really difficult," Rivers explains. "We had individual goals for each game. Anything to get them going."

The 66 wins are in the book. They created a 5 1/2-month buzz for the New England basketball cognoscenti. They provided the Celtics with the seeding and home-court perks. And now they mean nothing.

"There are three different seasons," Pierce says. "The preseason. The regular season. The postseason. Three different seasons, three different energy levels."

Mssrs. Pierce, Garnett, and Allen may not possess a championship ring among them, but they know playoffs, as do James Posey, Eddie House, P.J. Brown, and, of course, the venerable Sam Cassell, whose pair of rings have been authentically carbon-dated as being from '94 and '95. (19, not 18, smarty.) But the Celtics won't get where they need to go without help from the young'uns, so there will be some serious mentoring going on for the likes of Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, the suddenly menacing Leon Powe, and crowd darling Glen "Big Baby" Davis.

"We have to teach them that in the playoffs every possession matters," Garnett says. "The playoffs are like class. It's as much about preparation as anything."

They're now supposed to win. And they like it that way.