Celtics Playoff Thoughts

Rajon Rondo has been making exciting plays throughout his four seasons in the NBA. The product of Oak Hill Academy and Kentucky is a dominant force on defense, rebounds much larger than his 6-1 listed height, creates easy scoring opportunities for his team, and finds creative ways to get to the basket and finish over much bigger opponents. Back in November, I wrote that Rondo is the 21st Century version of Larry Bird because of the multiple ways that he impacts a game and his flair for the dramatic. That is an opinion that is shared by others who have been writing about the NBA a lot longer than I have - Bill Simmons included (scroll down to the 7:27 mark of the 3rd Quarter). Rondo's epic performance in a must-win Game 4 last Sunday (29-18-13 will be my new Keno numbers) brought life to a Celtics team on the brink and it forced the Cavaliers to panic, leading to the C's eliminating the LeBron's in Game 6. With Rondo under contract through at least 2015, I say with full confidence that the Celtics will have the league's premiere point guard on their roster for the next five years... As impressive as Rondo was all season and as dominant as he was in defeating the Cavaliers, do not forget the impact that Kevin Garnett had on helping the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. KG limped through most of the 2009-10 season and it looked like the knee injury that he suffered last year would keep him from ending his Hall of Fame career on his own terms. A funny thing happened when the playoffs started. Garnett started to play like we expected him to at age 34. He is not as explosive as he was a few years ago but he was back to running the Celtics defense, grabbing important rebounds, and giving his team an inside scoring presence. Against Cleveland, Garnett abused Antawn Jamison and Shaquille O'Neal from the low blocks, led the C's in rebounding, and provided the emotional leadership that the team lacked last year when they lost to the Magic in the Eastern Semi-Finals. Going forward, if the Celtics are going to win their 18th championship, they need Garnett to continue playing at the same high level we saw against Cleveland... The Eastern Finals will be a re-match of last year's Eastern Semi-Finals in name only. Yes, the Celtics and Magic will meet again but the differences between then and now make this a totally different series. The Celtics have a healthy Garnett, Rasheed Wallace playing with a purpose we did not see during the regular season, an emerging Tony Allen, and Rondo playing at an elite level. On the other side the Magic lost Hedo Turkoglu, added the criminally soft Vince Carter, and have a healthy Jameer Nelson in the lineup. I like the Celtics to win this series in six games. The rotation of Kendrick Perkins, Garnett, Wallace, and Glen Davis will make life difficult for Dwight Howard inside and Rondo will win his matchup with Nelson. Carter is a front runner who I doubt will make much of an impact in what will be a very physical series... Ray Allen is making himself some money this spring. Allen is averaging 17.4 points per game and is shooting 43% from behind the arc. Let's hope Danny Ainge gets him signed to a team-friendly contract this summer... Memo to Paul Pierce: When the game enters the closing minutes, it is NOT acceptable for you to take control of the half court offense. Rondo is the point guard for a reason, allow him to create the offense. If you are open, he will get you the ball. Trust him... I am one of the proud owners of the LeBron "NOPE" t-shirt, best $15 I have spent in quite a while...