Boston Celtics: The State of the Team Heading into the Playoffs

Heading into the playoffs, this Boston Celtics team is playing better than any other Celtic team since  2008. The past few seasons, the Celtics have limped into the playoffs after posting sub-par records in the latter part of the season.

Contrary to the past three seasons, the 2012 Celtics are playing their best basketball leading up to the playoffs. Unlike the 2009 team, injuries will likely not bring the Celtics down in the playoffs (although Ray Allen's injury may be cause for slight concern). More importantly, unlike last year's team, chemistry problems will most certainly not hinder this team. This team is a cohesive unit, as every player from Greg Stiemsma to Paul Pierce knows his role on the team.

Even though this team is playing good basketball and they have good chemistry, it would still be easy to write them off without giving a second thought because hey, they're just too old. Luckily though, when analyzing this Celtics team, you need to consider more than just how old they are. After all, the Big Three have been beating Father Time for the past three seasons.

Ray Allen can still run off screens better than anyone else in the league, Paul Pierce can still score like it's 2008 and Kevin Garnett is hitting deep jump shots like they're free throws. They also all know what it takes to win a championship and few teams can say that they have three starters that have won a championship together (Mavs, Lakers, and Spurs are the three exceptions).

Beyond that, as I mentioned before, every role player knows exactly what their job is on the team and the rotation is set and has been for a while now.

And did I mention that the Celtics also have this guy named Rajon Rondo who has posted double-digit assists in 24 straight games and was the first Celtic to lead the league in assists since Bob Cousy?

Most important though, is this team's attitude. Like in past years, experts say this is the last chance at winning it all for this core group. For three years now, KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have risen above naysayers calling them old and proven that they still have one year left. I would like to think that this will not be the last year of the Big Three, but in any case, the Celtics will play it like it is.

This team is like the sixth Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa—the movie and Rocky himself. At the time of Rocky VI, the movies had seemed to have been overdone. No one thought that the producers had one more good Rocky left in them. This Celtics team has seemingly been around too long and few think that they have one real championship push left in them.

But the Rocky series had a great foundation with the first Rocky movie, which still remains one of the best sports movies ever, and a still solid cast heading into the sixth installment. Likewise, the Celtics still have the same foundation from their first championship, which was one of the best championships of all time, with good new role players added.

The best part about the sixth Rocky movie was Rocky himself. He was still the same Rocky who ran the stairs in Philadelphia and went the distance with Apollo Creed. The odds were as against him as ever with his advanced age and he rose to the challenge because that is just what Rocky did. Regardless of the odds against him, Rocky always fought to the final bell and he did just that in the sixth movie.

This Celtics team is just like Rocky in this regard. They will not be an easy playoff matchup for any team for the simple reason that they will never give up. It doesn't matter if they are down big or on the brink of elimination, this team will fight and claw until the final buzzer sounds on their season, much like Rocky did in Rocky Balboa.

In the end, with a solid cast—some from the original and a good new supporting cast—and Rocky's unrelenting effort, Rocky Balboa greatly exceeded expectations and was a really solid movie. When this season is all said and done, this Celtics team—with their remaining core from the 2008 championship and solid new role players and their Rocky-like mentality—could too surprise a lot of people and make a big push in the playoffs.

No on ever counted Rocky out regardless of the odds against him or how old he was. In the same regard, it would be foolish to count this Celtics team out because of the odds against them or their age, because they will do everything in their power to raise Banner 18. And as Rudy Tomjanovich once said, "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion."