Hardwood Houdini
Fansided

Quit counting the Celtics out

By John Eyler

May 12, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) rebounds the ball in front of Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13) in the third quarter in game six of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 92-91, and tied the series at 3-3. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) rebounds the ball in front of Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13) in the third quarter in game six of the second round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 92-91, and tied the series at 3-3. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Three reasons the Celtics can beat the Cavaliers

As the season ended countless prognosticators and pundits informed us that it was just a fluke that the Boston Celtics won the Eastern conference title. We were told that it was obvious that the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards were better teams.

When the playoffs started against the Chicago Bulls the “experts” predicted an upset. They had statistical reasons to justify their claims. Now after winning two playoff series we can conclude that nothing has changed . Winning doesn’t seem to convince the “experts” at all.

More from Celtics News

No question the Cavaliers are a good, maybe even great team. Still,  this “maybe even great” team lost over thirty regular season games. Are they so good that they didn’t really try to win? Does an invincible team lose that many games?

To their credit the Cavaliers have been dominant so far in the post season. Now say the experts the Celtics will be soundly defeated and that will prove that “they” were right all along. Yeah, but they still have to play the games. That is to say that the Celtics do have a chance and  there are at least three legitimate reasons to suggest that they can win this series.

  1. Defensive intensity: The Celtics play hard in your face defense. They are scrappy , aggressive, and opportunistic. They force turnovers and they score in transition. This wears out the opposition.
  2. Superior ball handling: It’s not just ball movement in which the Celtics excel, they also don’t turn it over much. They score off assists and this ball movement wears out opposing defenses.
  3. Aggressive bench play: The Celtics bench plays with the same defensive intensity as the starters. This means the opponent never gets a break. It means the starters are always fresh and able to play at their best. This too wears out the opposition.

Add to the above the fact that the Celtics have home court advantage and there is solid reason to believe the Celtics can win and advance. The question is not if the Celtics can match the Cavaliers talent. The question is can the Cavaliers match the Celtics never ending intensity. Also, add the success the Celtics have had all season in the fourth quarter. That is the result of their intensity. These are real  advantages for the Celtics that should not be discounted.

Next: The Celtics Game 7 Win is Bigger Than you Think

The point is that the Celtics have a chance. They should have, by now, earned the respect of the “experts”. While that won’t happen there is no reason for fans to think that the Celtics can’t win this thing. Maybe that will wear out the experts.

Home/Celtics News