By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
I was wrong.
With the 4th Quarter beginning I turned to a few of my esteemed colleagues who were with me at The Garden and I said, “I don’t like this lineup for the Celtics to start the 4th.” The lineup consisted of Nate Robinson, Tony Allen, Ray Allen, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace.  Woops, I’ll take a mulligan on that one.
This unit turned the tide of the game and maybe the series as the Celtics tied up the NBA Finals at 2-2.  Down 62-60 to start the quarter, the Celts jumped on the Lakers with a 10-2 run to go up 72-64.  The heart and hustle of this unit was unbelievable.  Big Baby was in his words after the game, “a beast.”  He poured in 18 points, 9 coming in the 4th.  Robinson is instant offense scoring 12 points but he also played strong defense and made a great steal and called a timeout before he could be tied up for a jump ball.  Tony Allen played ferocious defense on Kobe Bryant and even chipped in some gritty offense.  And Rasheed Wallace nailed a 3 that caused The Garden roof to almost blow off.
And lets [...]

By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Celtics vs. Lakers, it just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it? The signature basketball event will again have its signature matchup.  It’s east coast vs. west coast.  Defensive toughness vs. offensive firepower.  Blue collar vs. Hollywood.  The two greatest franchises in basketball are facing off again in the NBA Finals. The Celtics have won 17 titles to the Lakers’ 15.  Both teams have had countless Hall of Famers and memorable moments to savor in their histories.  Another chapter is about to be written in the saga that is Celtics vs. Lakers.
Historically this has been a one sided rivalry. This is the 12th time they have met up with the NBA Championship on the line.  The Celtics are 9-2 against the Lakers in their previous 11 Finals matchups.  The Lakers finally broke through against the Celtics in the 1985 NBA Finals; a year after Boston beat LA in a tough 7 game series.  They also beat Bird’s Celtics in the 1987 Finals.  The Celtics dominated the Lakers in the 60’s, went 1-2 against them in the 80’s and are now 1-0 against them in the New Big Three vs. Kobe era.  So much more then the [...]

By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Believe in Green.  The most successful franchise in NBA history is back in the NBA Finals.  Was there ever any doubt? In fact there was and you can put all the blame on the Bruins.  The B’s choke job against the Flyers caused the media to start a déjà vu narrative for Boston sports fans.  They should have known better.  The Celtics are not the Bruins.  They deliver the goods.  The Celtics are a championship team with gritty, gutsy players that thrive under playoff pressure.  So while the sports world was talking about the possibility of the Celtics coughing up a 3-0 series to the Magic, the Celtics remained calm and handled their business.
This postseason run has been utterly remarkable.  The Celtics were a .500 team the final 54 games of the season.  They were terribly inconsistent.  Boston won 50 games, which gave them the 4th seed in the East.  They would only be assured home court advantage in the first round.  Well guess what? None of that mattered.
Here’s what does matter and why the Celtics are just four wins away from Banner 18.  The Celtics have never lost a playoff series with a healthy [...]

By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
In some ways the NBA Finals have already begun for the Celtics and Lakers. Of course the Magic and Suns could come back from their 0-2 holes to get to the promised land, but it doesn’t seem likely.
The Celtics are going home for two games and can clinch the series by taking them both.  The Magic need to beat the Celtics 4 out of 5 and win at least 2 games in Boston to win the series.  The Celtics haven’t lost a home playoff game yet this postseason.  Meanwhile the Lakers have won 8 playoff games in a row and Phil Jackson has never lost a playoff series when he’s up 2-0.  A collapse from the Celtics and Lakers wouldn’t be at a Bruins level, but it would be very surprising.
The Celtics and Lakers are eyeing each other.  The competition has begun. Both teams want to stay hot and finish their series’ quickly.  An epic NBA Finals is on the horizon as the two best franchises in NBA history are also clearly the two best teams right now.
This is when being a fan is so great. We don’t have to pretend like the players often [...]

 
By: Dan Massar, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent
The Celtics season starts tonight!  Lets take a look at the schedule  and pick out the best games.  Here are 10 key games to watch, starting with tonight’s:
1.      October 27 at Cleveland: This is the opening game for the 09-10 NBA season.  Not a bad way for the league to open things up.  The Celtics begin their quest to regain the championship against a hungry Cavaliers team that added Shaquille O’Neal in the offseason.  Could be an Eastern Conference Finals preview.  Then again everyone said that last season before the Magic crashed the party.
2.      October 30 vs. Bulls: Last time we saw the Bulls they were pushing the Celtics to the brink in a wild 7 game first-round series.  It was arguably the best first round series in NBA history.  The Bulls could be a team on the rise, though they will miss Ben Gordon who left Chicago for Detroit.  The theme of the playoff tilt was overtime.  There were 7 overtime periods in the series, an NBA record. So, expect it to be close.
3.      November 20 vs. Magic: The first match-up between the two squads since the 7 game second round struggle.  It didn’t feature 7 overtimes, [...]