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I think Phoenix would have beat them, and as a homer I'll say the Spurs would as well. Boston beats the rest of the West.
Let's assume the Lakes don't make the finals. Someone has to. Who beats the Lakers is irrelevant, I guess had OKC done it, that opens up the west for everyone much earlier. However, beating the Lakers does give momentum to the team that does. That could have been any team in the west
A few facts:
1) Celtics would only have HCA against the Blazers. Every other team, no.
2) Regular season, Boston swept Portland, were swept by Phoenix. Boston split with the other 5. Vs. Denver and Utah, the home team won. Vs. San Antonio, OKC, and Dallas, the road team won.
My predictions, lining the west up by seeding:
A) Dallas over Boston. Had the Mavs made the finals, their late acquisitions would have been justified. Dirk and Kidd get their rings.
B) Phoenix over Boston. That Phoenix bench would have worn the old Celtics down. Stoudemire stays a Sun. Steve and Amar'e would have mopped up.
C) Denver over Boston. Had the Nuggets survived the west, their experience from 2009 would have helped. George Karl being back may to be the difference, if he can return.
D) Boston over Utah. The loss of Okur would have doomed the Jazz. Celtics would own the frontline and sweep them as the Lakers did.
E) Boston over Portland. No frontline for the Blazers. that equates to death.
F) San Antonio over Boston. Spurs flipped the switch in the late season, winning in Boston and LA, beating Cleveland and Magic at home. Had they made the finals, they would have rolled the Celtics up.
G) OKC over Boston. True,. little experience, but they were great against the Lakers. That loud home crowd would have assured winning every home game.
So, in my opinion, Boston wins 2 series and loses 5. It could arguably be 7-0 for Boston as well. What do you think would have happened?
I think Phoenix would have beat them, and as a homer I'll say the Spurs would as well. Boston beats the rest of the West.
Celtics over TB's: Yes, for that reason and more.
Celtics over Jazz: Yes, for no Okur.
Mavs over Celtics: Possible, with a highly inspired Dirk, and a more involved Kidd.
Suns over Celtics: Yes, I can see it happen, but it's a toss up.
Nuggets over Celtics: I doubt it, even with a healthy coach.
Spurs over Celtics: Yes, I can see it happen. Would need some work from the Big 3 (the real ones), and a consistant/decent work of a 4th guy (Jefferson/Hill)
Thunder over Celtics: Maybe. With the effort they gave against the Lakers, I'd give them a good chance.
Suns/Celtics would have been interesting for more than just depth. Celtics weren't a great perimeter shooting team, and the Suns were playing a very effective swarming zone throughout the playoffs and a pretty effective straight zone at times vs. LA. If the Celtics weren't hitting threes, Suns could have kept things compe ive.
That being said, I think Celtics still win. I think Celtics beat every other Western team.
Do the other teams get 21 FTs in the 4th quarter in a comeback win? If so, then the Celtics lose every one of those, if not, the Celtics beat them all.
Logic:
Celtics was rightfully better than the Lakers. The Lakers were better than every single Western confernce playoff team.
Thus, Celtics beat every single Western playoff team.
The better team won.
Boston would have beat all of them.
Although I buy the part you say about the Celtics being able to beat the other 7 teams, your reasoning about the fouls shows your ignorance of what happened.
You have this typical hater mentality of the free throw disparity in the fourth quarter and shoot your mouth off without looking at what actually happened.
The Celtics fouls on the Lakers in the 4th quarter were legitimate. They played aggressive defense and got caught doing that. What about the Celtics fouls on the Lakers that weren't called? I've watched that 4th quarter many times and you can verify all of the following if you look at it too:
10:12 mark. Artest goes for layup and Garnett clearly swats Ron across both arms. JVG called it a foul and Artest didn't even argue.
9:54 Allen draws a block on Kobe. Or was it a charge? Allen threw his shoulder into Kobe, who was trying to get in front of Ray. Announcers split, take your pick, but it could have gone either way.
6:58. Wallace slaps Gasol across the side of his head with his arm as Pau is drving to the hoop. No foul called, and announcers agree. Close scrutiny sees the foul.
5:46 Moving screen by Garnett moving a leg into Artest's path.
5:41 Moving screen by Big Baby on Fisher. Sticks his leg into Derek's path and throws an elbow in his back. Ray Allen was open by 10 feet and missed his 20 foot jumper. "Way off the mark" - Mike Breen.
4:29 Moving screen by Wallace. Stuck a leg in front of Fisher. This freed up Allen on a switch who drove to the hoop and missed.
3:48 Moving screen by Garnett on Artest. Kevin stuck a leg in Ron's path and shoved him with his shoulder.
0:56.3 Wallace hooks Odom's arm with his. Rasheed takes a touch pass from Rondo with his free arm and sends it back to Rajon. At 0:53.6 Allen receives pass from Rondo and Odom tries to head to defend Ray, his knee goes to floor as he breaks free of the hook by Wallace as he saw Ray was receiving a pass. At 0:53.0 Allen is in shooting motion as Odom arrives too late, and bent over with his outstretched arm even with Allen's waist. Ray Allen sinks a 3 pointer to make it 79-76 Lakers.
Now, I am certain you can find fouls in the 4th the Lakers got away with. Here's a few gripes I heard and their refutations:
1:30 Gasol scored to make it 76-70. Replays show he jumped up, came down, touched the floor, and released the shot. travelling right? No, Pierce touched the ball when Pau was in the air and Gasol drew it back. Pierce touching the ball allows Pau to come back down. Jump ball maybe, but Pau should control that. It happened so fast, hard to see what happened live.
0:30.0 Gasol goes for a rebound of Kobe's miss and Rondo goes to the floor. Gasol had inside position and Rondo could have been called for bumping Pau, not a loose ball foul on Gasol. No call was made, then a pass to Kobe who drove to hoop and knocked over Wallace to foul him out. Rasheed was still moving, and in the restricted zone.
0:13.8 Rondo knocks ball out of bounds. Some say Kobe fouled Rajojn, but remember, Rondo was the one reaching in and Kobe's space was invaded. He needs room to move as well. Replays don't show a clear view anyway.
So, in conclusion, if anything, the refs just let them play the 4th quarter and the Celtics tried their tricks but they weren't enough, they just ran out of gas. Most the starters got little rest for either side the entire game. If anything, Boston should have driven to the hoop more themselves, Lakers were out of fouls as well.
Last edited by Daddy_Of_All_Trolls; 08-09-2010 at 06:58 PM.
only teams that would have beaten boston were probably the mavs and the suns. boston was completely out of fuel by the time they reached the finals. i'm even surprised they made it that far. father time finally smacked ray allen down, garnett couldn't make an impact, and pierce was gassed out. their bench saved them a few times but in the end, they truly ran out of gas. this is why i don't think the celtics will reach the finals next year. they are done.
Mavs and Suns
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