Time after time, it kept happening.
Inexplicably, the collapses happened against the horrible teams. Houston, New York and worst of all New Jersey, all at HOME, in the TD Garden.
The defense was lacking, their was no set substitution patterns, poor rebounding nights plagued the Celtics. Oh their were flashes of brillance followed by the unexplained, from game to game, sometimes quarter to quarter, as on Easter Sunday when Boston blew a 20+ point lead to Cleveland, only to rally and win the game.
But through it all, Celtics Coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers had a plan and stuck too it. Injuries plagued the Celtics through the regular season, and Doc would tell anyone who would listen that players were resting, not logging heavy minutes, which explained the lack of a defined playing rotation.
But because people are impatient and live in the now, Doc was looking to the future, knowing the only way to reclaim the Larry O'Brien Trophy was to have a completely healthy C's. In employing this strategy, Doc knew he was trading home court for health and better playoff match ups.
Remarkably, its worked. The healthy Celtics have disposed of three of the Top 5 superstars in the game in D-Wade, LeBron and Clark Kent. Now they have an opportunity to take care of Kobe. The team is a sum of all its parts and the C's are proving this.
It was just a few weeks ago in Game 1 against Miami, the Celtics were staring down the barrel of a 14 point 3rd quarter deficit, only to rally and win by double figures. Now they are on the verge of Banner 18 and could be the favorite against a Laker team that suddenly only has 4 players who can do anything and absolutely has no bench.
And much of the credit belongs to the good Doctor, who had a plan and stuck to it. The C's are playing their best ball of the season, they have a bench with defined roles and even picked up a sparkplug in Nate Robinson last night. The last stand for the C's and the Big Four has already taken a turn towards being a history making run.
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