[caption id="attachment_6343" align="alignnone" width="426" caption="Ray holds the trophy given to the #2 seed in the East."]
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It's not official yet, but it will take a major catastrophe for the Celtics (60 - 19) to fall out of that #2 seed in the East. As for their opponent, it's too close to call at this point:
- (6) Philly 40-39
- (7) Chicago 39-40
- (8) Detroit 39-40
The Globe has the scoop on the playoff dates:
The Celtics are set to play first-round home games Saturday April 18 and Monday April 20. If the Bruins meet Montreal in the first round, Game 2 of that series would be Saturday night to fill a "Hockey Night in Canada" time slot. That would set the Celtics' playoff opener at 12:30 p.m. that day.
I'd love for the Celtics to put the Pistons out of their misery. I can see Rasheed Wallace quitting after falling down 2-0 and jawing with lame duck coach Michael Curry on the bench, can't you?
SI.com's Ian Thomsen spoke with some personnel execs and advanced scouts and got their take on postseason awards. The consensus - Paul Pierce is an All-NBA first teamer:
Pierce deserves to be a first-teamer, according to the panel. "He has done a great job of keeping that team in contention,'' an admirer said. "You can't stop him offensively, and he plays at both ends. At the end of the game, he's playing defense against the best perimeter player. He has been their glue all year.''
And Rondo is first team All-Defensive first team:
Rondo was the surprise here. "Off the ball, he takes chances and he's not solid,'' a panelist said. "But I love his ability to get everybody on the team to defend. Garnett has the fanfare, and he deserves it, but when Garnett has been out, you notice that this guy [Rondo] is the guy who goes out to meet the ball. I love the way he gets over the screens, plays the 1 and 2 and at times he has even played Kobe Bryant on defense. When they have to have a major stop, it's Rondo. He sets the tone out front and gets them to be good defensive team.''
This comes as no surprise to us. I value their opinions 500 times more than the national media which remains too busy sucking up to the biggest stars. The same media which thinks the Magic are better than the Celtics...bahahahahaha.
Today's Links: Globe - C's Turn Down Heat | Milestone Win | Herald - PP Shows Why He's Mr Clutch | C's Ride Pierce to Beat Heat | Ray Honored with Auerbach Award | MetroWest: Pierce Delivers at End | ESPN: Stein's Award Winners | Blazers Beat Lakers |
After the jump....pics of Magic dancers.