Boston Deja Vu: Could the Celtics Possibly Blow It?

Monday night in Boston the Celtics failed to complete the sweep of the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.

No sweat right?

There's still plenty of time left to get that all-important fourth win in a seven-game series.

For any other team or city, this would just be a comfortable loss, if there is such thing. A four-point loss to a great team in overtime is nothing to snooze about—except in Boston...

Just a mere week removed from seeing the Boston Bruins blow a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers, the city and fans of Boston can only worry about the Celtics right now. Sure, it's just one loss, but that's what they said when the Bruins lost Game Four.

It wouldn't be this bad if we hadn't seen what we did Monday night: Dwight Howard stepping up, accompanied by Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick, and the Celtics lack of execution and concentration; neither are good signs for the Celtics and Boston.

If Howard and company come alive during the next couple of games, we will definitely have a series in the East. Howard made a statement with his huge 32-point, 16-rebound performance, which hopefully is a preview for the future.

Redick has been a very reliable go-to player off the bench, as he has seen an increase in his playing time, and everyone knows he has the ability to change a game, especially since his Duke days. Boston better have a good game plan for this guy.

The Celtics' worst nightmare may have been seeing the way Nelson came out and played tonight: 23 points and nine assists, including his late overtime heroics, when he hit two back-to-back threes to give the Magic a huge push which ultimately changed the game.

Orlando looks like it's ready to turn this series around.

And if the Celtics fail to execute and do what is needed to win like they did on Monday, we can write the Celtics down in the history books as the only NBA team ever to lose an playoff series when up 3-0.

Boston just looked as if it lost focus during crunch time, as it was capped off by Kevin Garnett throwing a pass too high to Paul Pierce, which ended up flying into the stands—not exactly what you expect from a veteran team like the Celtics.

However, one can look at it optimistically and say that the Celtics are the only team in this year's playoffs to go up 3-0 and lose Game Four. After all, they've done so twice now.

But if they don't come back strong for Game Five in Orlando and once again fail to clinch a spot in the 2010 NBA Finals, it may be time to start panicking in Boston yet again.

Hopefully Boston won't have a feeling of deja vu, but I'm not going to count it out. After all, we did see the improbable in Boston last week with the Bruins.

If the Celtics fail to capture a series win, all could turn to turmoil in the city of Boston; the Celtics and Bruins blow it and the Red Sox are sitting behind the hated New York Yankees and the young guns, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Could Boston actually be losing its sports touch?

Nah, probably not, but that's a different debate to debacle later on.

Good luck Boston. No telling what another blown series could lead to.