duncan228
04-08-2008, 10:45 AM
http://www.enterprisenews.com/sports/x195968165
Best record doesn’t guarantee best result for Celtics
The Celtics know that the NBA is littered with top teams that lost in the playoffs.
By Jim Fenton
BOSTON — Their attitude about being on top of the NBA standings has been consistent for the past five months.
Having the league’s best record throughout the season has never been something about which the Boston Celtics have made a big deal.
When asked about leading the NBA pack earlier this season, Coach Doc Rivers responded with a question of his own, looking to downplay the significance.
Rivers wanted to know if reporters could remember which team finished with the best record in the 2006-07 season.
The answer — the Dallas Mavericks at 67-15 — proved a point for Rivers since that team failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, getting shocked by the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
For all the good the Mavericks did from November through the middle of April, it didn’t help them one bit once the postseason began.
The Celtics, who continue a three-game road trip against the Bucks in Milwaukee tonight, clinched the NBA’s best mark last Saturday night.
It marks the first time since the 1985-86 season — Boston’s last title year — that the Celtics (61-15) will finish first in the overall standings.
Like they did after reaching the 60-win mark last week, the Celtics downplayed the achievement, knowing it will not mean much without taking the next step through the playoffs.
“Nothing we do right now is what we’re trying to do,” Rivers told reporters after a 101-78 win in Charlotte over the Bobcats. “It’s what we’re trying to get to later. That’s how we focus.”
Recent history shows that having the best regular-season record hardly guarantees a celebration in June as the NBA champion.
In the past seven years, only one team that entered the playoffs with the top record has survived the next two months and won the title.
That occurred in the 2002-03 season when the San Antonio Spurs, who tied the Mavericks at 60-22, emerged as the champions.
In the two years before that, the Los Angeles Lakers finished tied for second in the overall standings and won titles. The Spurs were on top of the NBA in 2000-01 with 58 wins and the Sacramento Kings were first in 2001-02 with 61 victories, but neither got out of the conference in the playoffs.
The past four seasons, lower seeds have prevailed to win championships, beginning with the Detroit Pistons (sixth overall in 2003-04), the Spurs (tied for second in 2004-05), the Miami Heat (fifth in 2005-06) and the Spurs (third last season).
In each case, teams that won more than 60 games in the regular season to have the best record were unable to parlay that into a title.
The 2003-04 Indiana Pacers went 61-21, then lost in six games to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals.
The 2004-05 Phoenix Suns were 62-20, but were eliminated in five games by the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
The 2005-06 Pistons had a 64-18 record going into the playoffs, but the Heat stopped them in six games in the conference finals.
Last season, the Mavericks had a remarkable regular season, winning six more games than the second-place team in the NBA, but they were ousted, 4-2, by the Warriors.
In the past 18 years, only seven teams with the best record during the 82-game season won titles, and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls did it four times.
After playing the Bucks, who are ahead of only the New York Knicks and the Heat in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics finish the trip in Washington Wednesday night.
The Wizards, fifth in the East, can become the only team to win a season series from the Celtics. Washington is 2-1, winning back-to-back games over Boston during a three-night span in January after losing to the Celtics on opening night.
It is expected that Rivers will get more rest time for his key players against the Bucks, though Paul Pierce could return to the lineup. Pierce did not play against the Bobcats after his fiancée, Julie Landrum, gave birth to their daughter, Prianna Lee, last Friday.
The Celtics will also be keeping an eye on the out-of-town scoreboard as the Atlanta Hawks, their likely first-round opponent, can move closer to a playoff berth tonight.
The Hawks (36-41) own a three-game lead over the Pacers (33-44) with seven games remaining, and the two teams meet in Indiana.
Best record doesn’t guarantee best result for Celtics
The Celtics know that the NBA is littered with top teams that lost in the playoffs.
By Jim Fenton
BOSTON — Their attitude about being on top of the NBA standings has been consistent for the past five months.
Having the league’s best record throughout the season has never been something about which the Boston Celtics have made a big deal.
When asked about leading the NBA pack earlier this season, Coach Doc Rivers responded with a question of his own, looking to downplay the significance.
Rivers wanted to know if reporters could remember which team finished with the best record in the 2006-07 season.
The answer — the Dallas Mavericks at 67-15 — proved a point for Rivers since that team failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, getting shocked by the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
For all the good the Mavericks did from November through the middle of April, it didn’t help them one bit once the postseason began.
The Celtics, who continue a three-game road trip against the Bucks in Milwaukee tonight, clinched the NBA’s best mark last Saturday night.
It marks the first time since the 1985-86 season — Boston’s last title year — that the Celtics (61-15) will finish first in the overall standings.
Like they did after reaching the 60-win mark last week, the Celtics downplayed the achievement, knowing it will not mean much without taking the next step through the playoffs.
“Nothing we do right now is what we’re trying to do,” Rivers told reporters after a 101-78 win in Charlotte over the Bobcats. “It’s what we’re trying to get to later. That’s how we focus.”
Recent history shows that having the best regular-season record hardly guarantees a celebration in June as the NBA champion.
In the past seven years, only one team that entered the playoffs with the top record has survived the next two months and won the title.
That occurred in the 2002-03 season when the San Antonio Spurs, who tied the Mavericks at 60-22, emerged as the champions.
In the two years before that, the Los Angeles Lakers finished tied for second in the overall standings and won titles. The Spurs were on top of the NBA in 2000-01 with 58 wins and the Sacramento Kings were first in 2001-02 with 61 victories, but neither got out of the conference in the playoffs.
The past four seasons, lower seeds have prevailed to win championships, beginning with the Detroit Pistons (sixth overall in 2003-04), the Spurs (tied for second in 2004-05), the Miami Heat (fifth in 2005-06) and the Spurs (third last season).
In each case, teams that won more than 60 games in the regular season to have the best record were unable to parlay that into a title.
The 2003-04 Indiana Pacers went 61-21, then lost in six games to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals.
The 2004-05 Phoenix Suns were 62-20, but were eliminated in five games by the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
The 2005-06 Pistons had a 64-18 record going into the playoffs, but the Heat stopped them in six games in the conference finals.
Last season, the Mavericks had a remarkable regular season, winning six more games than the second-place team in the NBA, but they were ousted, 4-2, by the Warriors.
In the past 18 years, only seven teams with the best record during the 82-game season won titles, and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls did it four times.
After playing the Bucks, who are ahead of only the New York Knicks and the Heat in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics finish the trip in Washington Wednesday night.
The Wizards, fifth in the East, can become the only team to win a season series from the Celtics. Washington is 2-1, winning back-to-back games over Boston during a three-night span in January after losing to the Celtics on opening night.
It is expected that Rivers will get more rest time for his key players against the Bucks, though Paul Pierce could return to the lineup. Pierce did not play against the Bobcats after his fiancée, Julie Landrum, gave birth to their daughter, Prianna Lee, last Friday.
The Celtics will also be keeping an eye on the out-of-town scoreboard as the Atlanta Hawks, their likely first-round opponent, can move closer to a playoff berth tonight.
The Hawks (36-41) own a three-game lead over the Pacers (33-44) with seven games remaining, and the two teams meet in Indiana.