By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
Not again.
Boston fans might be a little uneasy after the Celtics failed to sweep the Magic last night. This looks a little too much like the Bruins playoff series against the Flyers, and that didn’t end well. In fact, the similarity of the paths of our two Boston teams is downright scary.
How they compare:

Both took a three game lead with advancement looking like a sure thing.
Both had a blowout in game three, the Bruins winning 4-1, the Celtics 94-71.
Both teams fell short of a sweep in game four, losing in overtime.

The rest of the Celtics story remains unwritten as Boston fans tuck their Beat LA shirts away momentarily and pray they don’t await the same fate as their Garden counterparts.
And while nobody saw the Bruins fall from glory coming, a repeat for the Celtics is unlikely. They are not the Bruins. And here are a few reasons why they won’t let this series slip away.
Why:

The Celtics are a championship team. The memories of the last time the B’s won a Stanley Cup are foggy at best, but this Celtics team has already proven they can bring home a trophy. They’re a little bit older, but [...]

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 Staff Writer
For the second year in a row, Christmas is a working holiday for the Celtics.  The best in the NBA get to showcase their stuff on Christmas.  It’s a national showcase for the league and big games and great matchups are a tremendous tradition that NBA fans look forward to every year.
This Christmas is no exception.  The Celtics will be in Orlando tangling with the Magic.  This is of course a rematch of last year’s terrific second round series that saw Orlando win game 7 in Boston.  Both teams are atop their respective divisions and playoff positioning down the road is always a consideration when these two teams meet in the regular season.
Should be a fun game.  It’s always great seeing Dwight Howard battle it out with Kevin Garnett.  The Vince Carter vs. Paul Pierce matchup is also very intriguing.  Both players came into the league together as rookies.  Carter was selected 5th in the 1998 NBA Draft and Pierce 10th.  Since then they both have been successful, but Pierce has a title and NBA Finals MVP on his resume while Carter hasn’t gotten past the 2nd round.  The Magic are by far the best [...]

 
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, [...]