NBA Playoffs 2012: Why the Hawks Win Shouldn't Surprise Anybody

When I saw the Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics in the lid-lifter of their playoff series, my initial response was to be surprised.

After all, Boston was a division winner, was coming into the playoffs with a head of steam and had veteran moxie.

Of course, there's the proverbial Tracy McGrady stat of how the former scoring champion—currently a Hawk—has yet to play in the second round of the playoffs.

Then I realized that things aren't that much different from 2008, when the vaunted and top-seeded Celtics struggled with the 37-45 Hawks—particularly in Atlanta—where they lost three games.

To be honest, the two teams are by and large not that different than the squads from 2008.

Atlanta still has a core of Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, with Zaza Pachulia in the reserves. Boston still has the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (though Allen is day-to-day with an injury), plus star point guard Rajon Rondo, who was a rookie in 2008 and is coming of age now.

The one major difference between 2008 and 2012?  Well, Atlanta Hawks players like Smith have gone from being young to being in their prime of the careers.

By contrast, the Boston Celtics have mostly just gotten old.

Could the 2012 series be a rematch of the exciting action that happened four years ago? 

I sure hope so, because if that’s the case, we’re in for one exciting series.