Boston Celtics: Can You Say Repeat?

Forget about all the creative intros and openings sports articles usually have. Simply putting it out there, the Boston Celtics will repeat and win the 2009 NBA Championship.

Through 25 games this season, the Celtics stand at a towering 23-2, tying the ’96 Bulls, ’67 76ers, and the ’70 Knicks for the best start through 25 games in the history of the NBA. Oh and by the way, each of those three teams went on to win the championship.

The "Big Three" are dominating as always. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are each averaging just under 19 points per game and Kevin Garnett is nabbing 9.5 rebounds per game. No surprises there. These three are always the keys to success when you’re talking about the Celtics.

However, Boston’s best start in franchise history can also be attributed to the emerging youngsters that have raised their level of play this season. One of these improving players is PG Rajon Rondo. Rondo is knocking down 11 PPG, with a very solid 7.3 assists per game. He is also shooting an extremely impressive 51 percent from the field.

The scrawny point guard plays much bigger than he is, attacking the rim with remarkable speed. Rondo is extremely quick and is a definite threat to beat defenders off the dribble.

Another developing player is center Kendrick Perkins. Perkins showed his worth with a very strong postseason last year and has taken the championship momentum into the beginning of this season. With 8.4 points and rebounds per game, Perkins is becoming an important part of this thriving Celtics team.

Boston’s incredible success is based on fundamental basketball: play defense and hustle. They continually play strong defense and take opponent’s best players out of the game. Earlier this month, they held the dominating Dwight Howard to a measly 14 points. 

Against the New Orleans Hornets, their strong defense plagued Chris Paul, limiting him to 5-for-16 from the field. Again, when clinching their 23rd win out of 25 games, their defense came up big by only surrendering 15 points to top PG Deron Williams.

As a team, Boston’s stats are very impressive. They average 100 points a game, proving to be a complete team on both sides of the ball. They average 48 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc, which will always get it done. Boston’s second units, while not flashy and overly impressive, get the job done and manage the game well with intelligent basketball.  The only weakness of this dominating team is their offensive rebounding and even this is not a constant problem. 

Championship hang over? Garnett wouldn’t dare allow it. This team seems even hungrier than last seasons. It seems that all that piece of NBA title bling on their fingers has done is make each player want another ring to go with it…and that is just scary.

This team is on pace to win upwards of 70 games. Now, in all likely hood that won’t happen, but it is still impossible to deny how good this Boston Celtics team really is. Their determination, discipline, talent, and emerging players all make up a recipe for a repeat.

The Boston Celtics will be the 2009 NBA Champions.