Celtics-Hawks: Seriously?

First, let’s get the numbers straight. 

The Celtics won 66 games, third-most in team history. That’s right; there have been 14 world champion Celtic teams that won fewer regular season games than this one. 

Boston led the league in point differential (10.3) and opponents field goal percentage (41.9). More impressively, the Green sustained those numbers throughout the last leg of the season with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen playing few (if any) minutes on a nightly basis. 

Now, conversely, look at the Hawks. Atlanta won 37 games, finished eight games below .500, and 29 games behind the Celtics. I repeat. 29 games separated the first and eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs. I feel like someone should be fined for that, I just don’t know who.

A 37-45 record in the West would have been good for 12th place and a decent number of ping pong balls in the draft lottery. 

In the East, 37 wins buys the Hawks a cruel date with destiny; in three regular season losses against the Celtics, Atlanta’s margin of defeat was over 14 points. 

The bad news for Atlanta? Those numbers could actually get worse starting Sunday night. 

The Celtics have been playing with a “take no prisoners” mentality since the day KG suited up for his first practice. Their goal is going to be to bury the Hawks by halftime of every game, and rest up for what is sure to be a lengthy trek through the ’08 playoffs. 

Pierce has been waiting his entire career for an opportunity like this. So too have Garnett and Allen. The city of Boston has struggled through nearly two decades of futility in anticipation of this moment. 

It’s unfortunate that all the parity is out west, and there must be such a discrepancy between talent in an NBA playoff matchup. But don’t interpret that as empathy for the Hawks. 

It’s not going to be a fun postseason ride for Atlanta, but at least it will be brief.

Celtics-Hawks. A cute warm-up for the C’s? For sure. 

A postseason series, though?? 

Please.

Someone wake me up when LeBron pulls into town.