Celtics Central

The Celtics are 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks after Saturday night’s loss.

They haven’t really played all out dominating basketball yet in this series. For two games there wasn’t a reason to. The 3rd game got away from them because the Hawks played at such a high level. Try as they might, they couldn’t stay ahead of the Predatory Birds and had their very first difficult moments of the play-offs. They expressed frustration with each other, which is unusual.

Paul Pierce has been the consummate team player and even led the Cs with 8 assists in the last game. In the play-offs, he is hitting from the arc at a solid 53.3% and is 2nd in the East in made threes at 2.7 per game. He is 2nd on the Celtics in average with 15.7 points per game (behind Garnett’s 22.3) and in only 32.5 minutes a game. He took a very hard foul when Josh Smith landed on his head and he just got up and played. Paul has been having a very good series.

There has been some discussion about Horford’s finger pointing and trash talking at Pierce after he made the final basket in the game Saturday.

I understand the unwritten rules about rookies and stars. I understand why it’s a big deal to some that Horford did that. But I also know Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and a few other Celtics are prone to running some quality trash talk themselves during most games. Rookies, they are
not.

So I understand the breach of etiquette. But the NBA in particular is the most talkative sport, by far, of the three major team sports. David Stern even made a pointed effort to get politicking to the refs after every foul call minimized. It has improved. But almost everybody talks in this league.

I even read that Paul may have said or done a few things before that, and Horford was just responding when the game was appropriately in the bag. So, I find it much ado about very little.

Pierce and the rest of the Cs should use it for motivation. I expect that they will. Yes, Al Horford should have gotten a technical for taunting or whatever they call it, if that is the rule.

But I’m not worried about it. Talk doesn’t decide basketball games. Performance does. I wish they would all just keep quiet and play. But the fans do get into it, and everyone pays attention to it, due to the conflict it reflects, that is going on on the court. Even John McEnroe made talking a part of his tennis game and he was loved and hated for it.

I don’t think Doc will watch game film of trash talking to make sure they get it right. The Celtics already do that almost as well as they play basketball. In fact, I’d like to see a players vote of the top trash talking teams in the league. I believe the Cs would be in the top 5, and maybe higher.

But going forward, they should retaliate by their performance. I expect that they will.

In high flight, the Hawks left the terra firma, and the Celtics returned to it as the Hawks beat the Celtics 102-93.

In my last column, I asked, Who should the Celtics fear? Perhaps we don’t have to look far.

A Hawks pre-game goal of shooting in the first 7 seconds of the shot clock was working to perfection for much of the first half, as they constantly blew by the Cs on the way to dunks, alley-oops and lay-ups. The Celtics seemed to wonder, uncharacteristically, what the heck that was going by? It was a Hawk or two or three. They rarely let the Celtics set up their vaunted half court defense – and it paid off with a Hawk victory.

You can call it The Home Show, The Speed Show or the Aviation Show as Atlanta was rocking and enjoying their latest NBA play-off team after a 9 year absence.

Josh Smith and company provided plenty of shock and awe for the home crowd. Josh had three emphatic dunks, two on alley oops in the first half. But Josh Smith making three 3 pointers on 6 attempts while scoring 27 points, will tell you what kind of night it was. As the game wore on, the ball seemed to bounce in the Hawks direction far too often. Atlanta scored inside and hit from outside, making 10 of 18 threes while garnering 38 points in the paint.

When Kendrick Perkins went out early in the first quarter with a bloody nose, it looked like it would be a difficult night for the Celtics. Perkins came back in, but didn’t really play like himself the rest of the night. Nor did the rest of the Celtics.

It just might have been the wrong night to decide that Tony Allen and Eddie House won’t be part of the rotation. Sam Cassell did not play well and Tony could have helped, especially with perimeter defense, where the Hawks were open – often. House’s quick start offense might have helped as well. I completely understand Doc trying to pare down the rotation. But still….

An example of the Celtics erratic play occurred in the 4th quarter, when, with the Celtics down 89-76, Posey hits a three to bring the Celtics to within 10 points, then makes a great defensive play on a driving Joe Johnson. Celtics get the ball. Cassell throws a careless bounce pass to KG that results in a turnover and a Josh Smith fast break dunk. Posey appears to voice his frustration (read: anger) towards Cassell underneath the rim right after it happened. That is the kind of un-Celtic-like night the Cs had.

Kevin Garnett had a strong offensive performance with 32 points on 11-18, but was unable to stop the Hawks from penetrating at the other end. Mike Bibby had 8 assists and Joe Johnson, Al Horford, and Josh Childress joined Smith in attacking the Celtics while doing a solid job of stopping the Celtics from doing what they wanted to.

The league leading Celtics became the 4th play-off team leading 2 games to none in this year’s play-offs to take a loss, as the Hawks ran and leaped their way to a crowd pleasing win.

This win might raise the most eyebrows as the Hawks were an 8th seed that didn’t even play .500 ball to get in. They had loss three straight games to these same Celtics in the regular season by an average of 14 points, and two more in the play-offs by over 20 in Boston. More mature teams might have folded their tents and started to think about their summer plans. This team isn’t mature enough to know they can’t win. Tonight they proved that – by winning.

They out ran, out shot, out rebounded, out assisted and out blocked the Green Machine in Atlanta. Though the Celtics recorded 16 fast break points to Atlanta’s 15, the players on the move most of the night were wearing red, not green.

The question now is, “Did this win give them confidence enough to think they can actually play with the top team in the league?” My guess would be yes. They are young enough to not understand they can’t play a 7 game series and win in this situation.

The Celtics talent should win out, and the Hawks have been much too inconsistent to expect they will make a series of this, but stranger things have happened. This Hawks team showed this evening what their potential is. They will get scarier and better every year.

The Celtics biggest lead of the night was only 5 points, early in the first quarter, as the Hawks finally took to wing. A lightning quick, fast break team in the first quarter, the Hawks maintained that effort for much of the 2nd quarter, as they blurred by the slow responding, back pedaling Celtics.

The Celtics maintained their cool, regrouped, and slowly made their way back into the game with a 21-12 run to finish to the 2nd quarter tied at 56. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett each had 9 points to power the run.

The 3rd quarter made the difference as the Hawks jumped back out to a 10 point lead they would not relinquish again.

In addition to Bibby’s improved play, rookie Al Horford had an excellent game with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Joe Johnson had 23 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Josh Childress played solid defense. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 8 assists, and was 2nd with 17 points. Both teams did a very good job of sharing the ball, but the Celtics offense did not run smoothly, thanks in large part to the Hawks defense.

After Horford hit the last shot of the game, he started talking junk to Pierce who was laying on the floor. When the game ended, Paul calmly started to head towards the Hawks bench when Brian Scalabrine intervened.

Game 4 is Monday night in Philips Arena in Atlanta.

The Boston Celtics move their year long quest for an NBA title to Atlanta tonight. Game is at 8:00 pm.

Few thought, including Celtic fans, that the new look Celtics would actually make the NBA Championship series in their first year together. Eastern Finals were perhaps within reach in a great year, but few were willing to say that they were finals material. Fewer still predicted they could handle any team that made it from the ultra talented west. A finals appearance is still pre-mature, but that outlook looms more likely every day now.

Detroit is once again under performing and being nonchalant about it. They were to be the likely dream stopper for these Celtics. What has happened to that thinking? The surprising 76ers have happened to the Pistons. They are up 2-1 and have made the league take notice with an impressive win against the Pistons, pummeling them by 20 points and looking very Pistons-like in their defensive effort.

During the season, the Pistons, to a man, downplayed every Celtic victory and each of their losses to the Celtics. Chauncy Billups, in particular, laughed when asked if the Celtic wins against them meant anything, or sent a message. Rasheed Wallace has been equally unimpressed.

From where I sit, one of the main problems with the Pistons is their own lack of a sense of urgency. They have played thus since their World Championship against a stronger Laker team in 2004. They played their hearts out in that series and conquered a bigger foe. They went back to the Finals the following season and lost a 7 game series to the Spurs. They actually re-conquered Shaq, now teamed with Dwayne Wade in Miami, in another 7 game series, along the way to the finals. Miami returned the favor the next year on their way to the NBA Title.

The Pistons’ Ben Wallace-less loss to a lesser Cavalier team last season, should have sent a strong signal that all things were not right in the Motor City. With a gimpy Chris Webber instead, LeBron carved his way through the Detroit defense for a stunning amount of open looks at the hoop and another upset of a more talented Pistons team.

If the Pistons nonchalant their way to another upset loss to an inferior team, it leaves a much easier path for the Celtics to the finals.

The rest of the teams in the east can absolutely give the Celtics trouble, especially the Magic, in my opinion. Washington and Cleveland both have provided match up problems. The 76ers seem to keep getting better and better. They don’t know they aren’t supposed to be winning these games. But a focused, concerted effort by the Celtics should carry the day in a best of 7 series with any of them. The team with the best chance to derail their quest may be gone in the first round.

You won’t hear the Celtic coach or players say any such thing. The standard answer is, “one game at a time.” If you have heard that once from anyone in Celtic green you have heard it 100 times.

By staying true to the very grounded, purpose-driven Chinese philosophy that every journey begins with a single step and following that game…. by…. game, has helped the Cs arrive in the play-offs with the league’s best record and the Celtics 3rd best in their long storied history. That is saying something, contrary to what Doc Rivers will tell you.

But Doc is also dead right in keeping their emotions down until they have actually won what they are after.

Tonight’s match against Atlanta will provide a few sideshows with Mike Bibby and the Atlanta crowd. As far as I know the game is not sold out. Take that Mike Bibby. You actually have a bigger problem in the name of Rajon Rondo. Paul “Rocky” Pierce will play after getting knocked down hard, resulting in a lower back sprain. We will see if he is able to sustain a Paul Pierce type game.

The Hawks will try to take ‘physical’ to another level. The Celtics will try to get one win closer to their goal of three star players’ first NBA title and cement their place in league legend and join a very exclusive club of players who can say that they were the very best in the world for 12 month period.

Paul, Kevin, Ray and the boys are performing in act three of this terrific drama this evening. Be sure to watch it.

You can knock this team down. But you can’t knock them off their game

As with every top team, it is really hard to knock these Celtics off course. Not that the Hawks didn’t try. Just ask Paul Pierce.

Less than 2 minutes into the game, Paul drove, and while going for a lay up, 2 Hawks flew right at him. Besides a hard foul, high flying Josh Smith fell, using Paul’s head as a landing pillow, to add insult to injury. The insult was a headache. The injury turned out to be a lower back strain.

But it would be almost another minute before Doc called time out and got Pierce out of the game. In that time, a somewhat dazed Pierce hit one of two foul shots, got back on defense and waved off Garnett as he inquired about his well being as they set up at the other end. Pierce could walk so he could play, or so he thought.

Doc finally was able to call a 20 second time out to get Paul out of the game, where he immediately went to floor on the sidelines. Pierce was obviously hurting more than he wanted to let on. He was sent to locker room where it was determined it was a lower back strain and he would return. He came back to play in the 2nd quarter. The Celtic warrior played 26 more minutes and scored 11 more points on 5-10 shooting overall. That is the kind of determination the Hawks and any other team is up against when they play this mission driven team.

The Boston Celtics cleaned up their few weak spots from the first game and absorbed everything the young Hawks could throw at them. They held the offensive rebounds to 5 versus the 16 they gave up in the first game, and played better help defense for most of the game. They held the Hawks to a mere 60 shot attempts and .383 FG% on the night.

The Hawks had their last lead at 7-5 before the Cs answered with a 15-2 run to take over for good. Mike Woodson’s team continued to compete to finish the quarter strong with a 11-4 run to close to within 4 at 24-20. The Cs drove the lead back up by 15, before the Hawks closed to within 10 at the half. And that was accomplished with Al Horford and Joe Johnson missing significant time due to early foul trouble.

Half Time – Celtics 8 ‘em up

Four Celtic players had 8 points at half time. 2 others had 6 (Posey, Rondo) in a majestic showing of team work and balance.

Sam Cassell blasted away with 8 in 6 minutes, but the points parade included Garnett, a hobbled Pierce and Sugar Ray. With Paul Pierce out James Posey did more than play defense, adding 9 points and 5 boards, prompting praise from Doc Rivers.

From Gary Dzen, at Boston.com…..

“I was concerned about Paul, but Pose was terrific,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “That guy has a sense of what your team needs sometimes. He’s going to come in and give you the defensive effort all the time. He clearly could see that we needed scoring and cuts, and he got them. He got the two layups. He’s just so important to our team. I don’t think everybody has any idea how important he is to our basketball team on and off the floor, especially tonight.”

Point guard MIA

Celtic Security did call the police, though. Mike Bibby was taken hostage by Rondo again. He was barely seen in the first half, getting shut out on assists, keeping his series total at….one……total.

Mike ‘The Veteran’ Bibby shot 1-5, but did manage 6 first half points. There were witnesses, and they are negotiating with Rajon as I write this. Clues as to where Rajon was hiding him could be determined by the Celtic fans’ boos every time he touched the ball. The maligned Celtic crowd did it all night to “One Assist Mike”. That is the same amount Bibby was able to generate in game one. Just call Rondo “Mike Bibby’s Nightmare”.

Rajon thoroughly outplayed Bibby once again, finishing with 12 points, on 6 for 11, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and one TO. Bibby went 2-7 for 12 points, with 3 boards and his one assist. As Bibby sat in the 4th quarter the Cs fans chanted, ‘Rondo’s Better’. Mike Bibby had made the comments after the last game that Celtic fans this year were ‘fair weather fans. The arena was only 3/4 filled last season.’

The Celtics aggressive defense forced 21 equal opportunity turnovers with rookie Acie Law committing 4, fledgling Josh Smith 5, and veteran Joe Johnson 5. The Beantown Burglars had an incredible 15 steals this evening.

The Celtics outdid the Hawks at their own game with 19 fastbreak points,while the often confused Hawks had only 10. The Hawks game plan was to go the paint and to the line often, which they did, yet the Celtics won the paint battle 36-30. The Hawks did go to the line 40 times to the Celtics 26.

Kevin Garnett led the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds though he did shoot 6-18. As usual, the newly named NBA Defensive Player of the Year anchored the Celtics suffocating defense. Intensity has picked up and things were chippy a few times in the middle tonight. The refs did a good job of keeping it under control.

Ray Allen shot 3-6 from downtown, finishing with 15 points while Glen Davis used all his fouls in just 14 minutes, in mostly garbage time, but contributed a block and 3 steals, though he turned it over 3 times himself.

The Hawks are clearly outmatched, but could put in a better performance in their own arena.

The Celtics would like to end things quickly and move on. They have bigger things in mind. After the game, Pierce said he thinks he will be okay to play Saturday.

The series moves to Atlanta Saturday at 8 pm.

One reason I really like this Celtic team is that they display great balance, but without players that are ‘position prototypes’. It is a bit iconoclastic. And they have an iconoclastic coach to lead them. And play them. He plays too many players according to conventional wisdom. You go, Doc.

That brings a smile to my face. I quietly love it. Break a few established rules as you find your way to success. Like Picasso, who was capable of exquisite realistic renderings, but choose not to paint that way, you have to know the rules to break them, or more truly, to bend them.

The Celtics have:
1) A 7 foot fancy passing, inside/outside power forward who can move to center (Kevin Garnett)
2) Two young undersized power forwards with oversized hearts.
a) One has long arms and can leap. (Leon Powe)
b) The other has a big……heart and the energy of a 6 year old. The infinite tape measuring and leap-o-meter won’t tell you much good about Glen Davis. A heart x-ray will say more.
Both have learned to navigate the lower regions of the post among the world’s best tall people. Their size has not been a disadvantage after all.
3) A defensive minded small forward who plays a lot of power forward, but also guards shooting guards from time to time. (James Posey)
4) A diminutive point guard with long arms who can rebound like a forward when he wants to. (Rajon Rondo)
5) A shooting guard who can handle and pass (Ray Allen)
6) A small forward who can play shooting guard, pass like a point guard, and rebound like he was taller(Paul Pierce)
7) A shooting guard who can defend small forwards as well. (Tony Allen) A shooting guard who plays point guard. (Eddie House)
9) A power forward who can play some center. (Brian Scalabrine)

The corporate world call that ‘cross training’. Any coach would love to have that versatility and multi answer roster.

They are a half court team who can fast break for stretches when needed. They are only recently playing a more traditional line-up with the emergence of Leon Powe. It allows James Posey to play his natural position – small forward.

While much of what this team does is close to a purist’s idea of fundamental team basketball, they have done it with a nice mix of unconventional players and personalities.

Molds are made to be broken. More than a few have been broken, bent, or stretched in Beantown this season.The results have been pretty good.

And so it begins.

The Celtic train has begun it’s journey to banner #17 and has begun rolling in impressive fashion. They beat a feisty Hawk team by 23 points.

Winning going away, Pierce, Garnett, Allen, and Rondo all had game impacting, decisive offensive displays in a ‘true to form’ Celtic basketball game. They held Atlanta to 38% shooting and shot 48% overall and a crisp 56% from the arc themselves.

Ray Allen led the team with 18 points. Pierce and Garnett each added 16 points, and Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 9 assists in his very first play-off appearance. Garnett added 10 rebounds and 4 assists while leading the team at both ends of the floor.

Displaying scoring balance, 6 Celtics were in double figures, but none reached 20 points. But it was the team’s trademark defense in the 2nd and 3rd quarters that put the game away. They held Atlanta to 34 points combined in the middle quarters while Ray Allen ran off 10 straight points (12 overall in the third quarter) to run a catchable 13 point lead up to 19 points. Ray displayed his quick but deadly release, including a three pointer that barely touched his hands.

After the Hawks closed again to 12 points at 55-67, Rondo made the Hawks pay for dropping off him with two straight jumpers and added a fall away jumper in the paint to extend the lead to 18 as the quarter ended.

The Celtics were already ahead 8-2 when TNT began telecasting the game because the Detroit/Philly game had run over.

The Celtics went up 11-2 and 17-6 and 24-10 as Paul Pierce hit his first 3 shots from beyond the arc. Rajon started the game aggressively, adding 9 points and 5 assists in the first period as the Celtics held on for a 29-21 lead as the Hawks closed the period strong.

The Hawks opened the 2nd quarter with 6 straight points, capping a 17-5 run of their own to get within 2 at 27-29 on a Marvin Williams jump shot. Shades of Philadelphia danced in their heads as Detroit was upset by the Sixers just before this game.

Garnett answered with a turnaround jump shot and the Celtics slowly pulled away, eventually regaining a double digit lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. After faltering early, the Celtics bench played well. Posey, Cassell, and Tony Allen were particularly effective as the team extended the lead while they were on the floor. Pierce led the Cs at half time with 13 points.

While playing hard for the whole game, the Hawks were over matched as the Celtics made sure to keep their foot on the Hawks neck the rest of the way. The lead ballooned into the 20′s as the 4th quarter ran down. Leon scored all 10 of his points in the last period, all in traffic underneath, including two monster dunks. Leon added 4 rebounds and 2 blocks and looked good in his first taste of playoff competition.

Sam Cassell scored 10 points, on 3 of 6 shooting with 7 of his in a row to extend a 4 point lead up to 11 at 42-31. Pierce added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal, as he displayed what this year’s Celtics are all about, scoring his points on only 10 shots while playing great defense along the way.

Unsung Kendrick Perkins played goalie and had 2 blocks and 6 rebounds to go with his middle clogging defense in his 20 minutes of time. He was a huge part of the Celtics success while scoring just 3 points.

This game went about as expected. I believe we will see even more competitiveness from the Hawks before the series is through. But it will be for naught. They simply do not have the talent, depth, or will to compete with the league’s best team on its driven mission.

Kevin Garnett mentioned that he and Ray had a strong disagreement about how to do things in tonight’s game, but that it was patched up and everything is fine now.

The next game is Wednesday night.

I made these before the games started, before you ask. I just decided to put them here now.

I might wish I stuck with San Antonio, as the ‘they have never won it back to back’ thinking means nothing. They still one of the most solid and well coached teams in the league. Still they haven’t been as dominant this season and Phoenix has beaten 3-1 this year, including twice with Shaq.

Cleveland might deserve more respect, but they haven’t meshed the new players from their trade very well. Their offense does not match their defense. If an outside player or two steps up, they could get past Washington.

Other than that, here they are….

1st Round – East
Celtics over Hawks 4-0 Hawks must work to avoid sweep
Pistons over 76ers 4-1 A surprising 76er team meets their match
Magic over Raptors 4-2 Magic are better than they are given credit for
Wizards over Cavaliers 4-3 This could go either way. Cavs have disappointed in maximizing
new players from trade.

2nd Round – East
Celtics over Wizards 4-1 Celtic train keeps rolling. Wizards might win two.
Pistons over Magic 4-2 This will be much tougher than people think. Detroit is not invincible.

Eastern Finals
Celtics over Pistons 4-2 Celtics will be hard pressed, but prevail without it going seven. Detroit
has weaknesses.

1st round -West
Lakers over Nuggets 4-2 Nuggets have an outside chance at upsetting, but won’t.
Hornets over Mavericks 4-3 This one’s a toss up. I’m going with the young PG assuming the
reins from the old one.
Suns over Spurs 4-3 I looked long and hard before making this pick. Suns won season series
3-1.
Jazz over Rockets. 4-2 Two excellent coaches, edge to Sloan. If Yao was there, all bets are
off. Jazz are very very good…except on the road.

2nd Round – West
Lakers over Jazz 4-3 Derek Fisher will make a difference. Battle of the Euro centers.
Suns over Hornets 4-1 Hornets are good with CP3, but not good enough.

Western Finals
Suns over Lakers 4-2 – wow. this should be very close by my estimation

Title Series
Celtics over Suns 4-2 This could be Spurs/Celtics instead. But I’m going with the Suns. Either
way, the Celtics have a good chance of achieving their mission in their
very first season together. Aftet watching them all season, I know for a
fact they haven’t played all out for a while. They will now.

Upset potentials
Denver over Lakers
Magic over Pistons

I don’t see it happening, but both teams are better than people give them credit for, IMHO.

Attention Geologists: There will be an earthquake tonight at 8:30.

Meteorologists will coincidentally record a perfect storm at the same time and same place.

The epicenter of both will be discovered to be on a basketball court at TDBanknorth Garden, Causeway Street in Boston, Massachusetts. No, this is not an episode of Twilight Zone, a Stephen King Novel, or a disaster movie being filmed.

Tell your children to come out from under their beds. Pick up the fallen dishes. Let go of the shaking picture frames. Your house and family are safe. Police, Fire and EMS units can go back to base. Take it easy guys. It will only be a basketball team called the Boston Celtics as they start to pick up steam and begin rumbling towards its destination – the NBA Finals.

They are prepared, they are focused, and they are fierce.

The unfortunate, unknowing, naively spirited Hawks are in harm’s way. This is Bambi versus Godzilla folks. There is no other way to put it. The Celtics won the season series 3-0 and by an average of 14 points. Nothing will change.

When things are done, the Hawks might end up on the Endangered Species list. They are a fine young, athletic team who managed to end up in the play-offs with a losing record 37-45. They are a dismal 12-29 on the road. They lost their last three games of the season. They ended the season by losing to the worst team in the league, the Miami Heat. They lost 5 of their final 7 games. Hardly a strong finishing kick. In their defense, three of those losses were to play-off teams and they beat 2 play-off teams in their final 8 games. Avoiding a sweep will be their goal.

Leading the Hawks revival, is veteran point guard Mike Bibby. Their ‘resurgence’ record since Bibby arrived? 15-17. He has helped in many ways, no doubt. But they will not be a match for a team bent on a mission to redeem, if not redeem, then to crown the converged careers of 3 of basketball’s finest, but visibly unfulfilled careers.

One of the most exceptional iterations of a pro basketball team in years has been born in Boston. They have multiple offensive options. They play suffocating defense. They play as a team. They have three star players, 3 go-to guys in crunch time who have been there many times before. They have a surprisingly developed bench.

Like a cornered animal, the Celtics are dangerous beyond any normative methods of evaluating danger.

No one has more to lose and more on the line than Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. What they have very visibly failed to do in their careers will be within their grasp. The long 82 game road has led to this. The NBA’s Greatest Losers list is one they would like to chip their names from for all eternity.

The Karmic Incantations, Lucky Coincidences, Cosmic Destinies, Unpredictable Turns of Events, or Solomonic (new word) Wisdom of the wizard behind the curtain, that poor hitting shortstop, Danny Ainge have brought this confluence of events and players to its surprising origins. The end is yet to be determined, but the road they are on has all signs pointing to the destination they covet – the NBA Championship.

Make no mistake. This assembly will have no imitators. Attention GMs around the league. You cannot duplicate what Danny Ainge did. Don’t even think that you can. The sheer number of things that had to go right for this assembly to occur was myriad beyond duplication.

From growing three years of youth, to waiting to obtain 2 players of the caliber of KG and Sugar Ray Allen, to having a player like Paul Pierce already on your roster, to getting and trading a top five lottery pick, to having the contracts on the team to make the trades, to maintaining a top point guard in the making, and an unsung young center grow before your very eyes, to seeing your bench come together with important low cost signings, and the growth of 2 second round picks…..you can’t use this as a model for your own team’s rebuilding. Look elsewhere, my friends.

The eyes of the NBA are upon them. None have more to lose than these three. As good as their career have gone, they are titleless. That is the driving force behind all that you see on the court. It is something to reckon with. Only a few teams in the league will have enough to derail this team. The Hawks are not one of them.

My respect and heart goes out to Hawks coach Mike Woodson. He is in a similar position to Doc’s. He was there for the training years of many talented but very young players. Marvin Williams, Al Horford, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Josh Childress are all players who can really play. This team will keep getting better and their day may come. I hope that Mike Woodson may be given one more year to see the fruits of his efforts. He has earned that in my opinion. They simply won’t have enough to deal with this Boston team of destiny.

The Hawks will bite and claw. They will fight. But they will fall to a superior team with superior talent and something called experience. They will fall to a mission that looks far beyond them, to personal legacies on the line.

It is the most intriguing story in the NBA. It begins Sunday night at 8:30 on ESPN.