Kevin Garnett Shows More Signs of Bill Russell Than Dwight Howard

The Celtics are pointing the way to the inevitable for the Orlando Magic, an excuse not to want to come back to the TD Garden. They flat out Manny Pacquiao'd the Magic and took a 2-0 home court advantage back to Beantown.

Every time Orlando landed a blow of their own, Celtics cut-man Ed Lacerte was there to be sent back on the court to patch them up.

The Magic, on the other hand, tried to land a jab and missed a half-court desperation shot from Jameer Nelson.

The question is, do the Celtics have the killer instinct that is necessary to slowly carve the life out of Orlando?

Bob Couscy said that as soon as they stepped foot on the court their thought was to annihilate the opponent. Their only thought and purpose was to win another championship.

Bill Russell said they would look down the other end of the court and, instead of warming up, the opposing team would be watching them. They knew then that they were in their heads.

The Magic aren't necessarily doing that, but the Celtics are toasting them, and it looks like they are about done.

This version of the lads in green is beginning to display the mentality that Cooz and Russell's teams had. They accept their roles and understand the chances of getting a championship are elevated.

These Celtics look eerily similar to the last run that Russell had. They limped into the playoffs with a team that was showing its collective age. Their core group had somehow managed to get out of the East and the heavily favored Lakers had all but been christened champions.

You know the storybook ending. The Celtics won and the Lakers were as deflated as the soon to be balloons they had stored in the Forum's rafters.

Pundits are quick to associate Howard's name with the great Russell, which is an insult to him and Kevin Garnett. It was Garnett that got to embrace Russell as a champion in 2008, stating proudly that he had his own ring now. Russell had promised KG that he would give him one of his 11 championship rings if he lost.

Don't you think KG took that to heart? Kevin is a prideful guy; his work ethic and personality demands that of himself and his teammates. That single utterance from Mr. Russell drove him to Banner 17.

Don't you think that he is using the fact that Howard is considered more Russell-like than him to fuel himself? After all, he was part of the core that won the last championship in the house that Russell built.

Don't you think he is just insane enough to accomplish his mission to once and for all show that he is more Russell-like than anyone ever thought by raising Banner 18?

More on Causewaystreethoops.