Are the Celtics in trouble?
I think it’s too early to say that, but the injuries – especially the ones to their big men – will certainly be a problem. In our Game 5 preview I predicted the Magic to win at home and pull within a game of tying the series. They did. And I am still expecting the Celtics to close out the series at home Friday night.
Either you are at least a little bit surprised by what the Boston Celtics have accomplished so far in the playoffs or you weren’t paying attention during the regular season. They won 50 games to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference, but they didn’t earn a lot of style points doing it. Their older players looked really old, the team wasn’t playing with cohesion, and only Rajon Rondo seemed to have taken a step forward from the previous year. Yet here they are. They beat a pretty good Miami team easily, dominated what was widely seen as the best team in the league, and are now in very good shape against the Magic after two games. They’ve faced the toughest path of any team in the playoffs, and come out of it looking brilliant. They have been like a whole new team for bettors as well – they burned bettors’ money by going 33-47-2 ATS during the regular season, but have been a fantastic 10-3 ATS in the playoffs.
Boston heads out on the road after finishing their last 10-game homestand with a 7-3 record. They enter a tough stretch in facing teams currently in first or second place in each game until May 27. “It will be a good test,” said Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew. “I think we’re well cut out for it. We know what we’ve got to do.” This type of schedule is nothing new for the Sox, as they have played 13 games this season against teams with a .600 winning percentage or better this year, tied for 2nd-most in the Majors. Boston is 3-10 (.231) in those contests. Look for 1B Kevin Youkilis to lead the charge offensively, hitting .394 (13-for-33) since the start of May, adding two home runs and scoring 11 runs over that span.
In the East, the Atlanta Hawks (47-35), who captured the fourth seed, will play the Miami Heat (43-39), the fifth seed, in round one. The Hawks took the regular season series three games to one. In their final meeting on April 14, Atlanta beat Miami by just two points. Only four games separated these teams in the standings.
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