Celtics Prove They Won't Make NBA Finals.

I feel you, Big Baby.

The C's sure did a lot to help me realize that a banner raising isn't in our future this year, as they dropped their game with the Bulls 81-97 last night. Dominated from start to finish by the soon to clinch #1 team in the East, the Green Army looked overmatched and overaged. And why does this crush my title dreams? Rajon Rondo said it best after the game, "Like it or not these are probably the guys who we'll meet in the Conference Finals or wherever." I'll tell you one place you won't meet the Bulls, on the golf course during the NBA Finals. Nope, that'll be an all-green fivesome teeing off at that point.

The Celtics shot just 38% in the game, and went a horrible 2 for 10 from beyond the arc. We got outrebounded, outassisted, and lost by 16 despite having an advantage of 11 extra free throws. It was flat out pathetic. Paulie led the way with 15 points, KG had 10 and 10, and the rest of the starters were sadly in single digits. Jeff Green's 10 off the bench helped out more than Jermaine O'Neal, Rondo, or Ray Allen. In fact, while you might think that Ray Ray didn't get the ball enough, the opposite was actually true. He shot 3 for 10 from the field, and went 0 for 3 from deep. If you think that's bad, just look at Glen Davis. You'll understand why he looked like he was crying on the bench once you realize that he had a weak 1 for 8 game.

What the heck were we doing here? This was the biggest regular season game left on the schedule (face it, Heat). It was all set up to answer the question of, how far can the Celtics go? Well, we found out. The answer is that the most we'll achieve this time around is losing to the Bullies in the Conference Finals. And that's IF we can get to the Conference Finals. After last night's performance against the class of the East, I'm wondering if we'll even make it that far. Sure, we can beat the schmucks from Philly, but what if we face Orlando or Atlanta in the second round? Why are we so sure that we'll even make it to a matchup against Chicago, Mr. Rondo? I'm starting to guess that we won't.

Now 54-24, the C's and the Heat are even at 4 games back of the Conference leading Bulls, as the Green Army continues to slowly take away confidence from the entire fan base. We're right back at it tonight against Washington. We meet Washington two times in the final four games, with a little Miami and New York mixed in there, but that's it. Four games to try and figure this out. If we lose against the Heat this Saturday, I'm pretty sure I'm going to start bracing myself for an early playoff upset.

Man, those Royals can't start up in Anaheim fast enough.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē