Boston's Bettah – A Boston Sports blog from guys that love Boston sports a little too much

As early as a month ago, my friend Sully and I are were discussing sports and the topic of the Boston Celtics came up. At the time, the post-Rondo success of the team was in a bit of a free-fall and despite the fact that they played admirably against the Miami Heat, the Celtics still came up losers.

We were discussing the potential playoff match-ups for the Boston Celtics when suddenly he said something rather shocking to me. In explaining where he wanted the Celtics to end up, Sully said he wanted to end up in the eight spot. The reasoning was this. If the Boston Celtics were going to win the Eastern Conference, they were going to have to go through the Miami Heat at some point. He would just rather our Celtics’ do it in the beginning, while the team was still fresh.

At the time, I was a little taken aback by the comment. Usually, the goal is to finish as high as possible in the conference in order to get better match-ups in order to get an easier path to the Finals. It had been fairly obvious for quite sometime that no matter how it was cut, the Boston Celtics run to the title would be their toughest one yet. They were not going to win the Atlantic division, they were going to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and then we were going to have to go through a gauntlet of teams to reach the NBA Finals.

Unlike other sports leagues, however, the NBA is a true bracket style tournament. It does not reseed. Winning as a low seed does not guarantee a trip to visit another monster of in the conference. Look at the situation that came to Philly last season. They took down Chicago and instead of seeing Miami – something that would have befallen them in a reseeded  they had an opportunity for an “easier” match-up against Boston. In the situation where the Celtics would be an eight seed this year, they would play Miami. Take down Miami, and its a match-up with the middle of the conference table. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. At some point to reach the Finals, the Celtics would have to beat Miami. It might as well have to get done as early as possible.

Instead, the Boston Celtics will face their toughest road through the Eastern Conference since Kevin Garnett joined the team. Starting tomorrow, the team takes on the New York Knicks. If they get by that, it’s a likely match-up with the Indiana Pacers followed by the hated Miami Heat. Those are the three best teams in the Eastern Conference, and the Boston Celtics will likely have to go through each of them in order to reach the NBA Finals. Without a doubt, it is their toughest track to the NBA title during this current era.

Don’t think for a second that scares these Boston Celtics. Nothing has before. Since Rondo went down, this team has found a new resolve in their goal for another championship. The fact that it is their toughest run isn’t anything for them.

I’ve said a lot of mean things about Jeff Green since the Boston Celtics acquired him at the trade deadline in 2010. I blamed him for the Celtics not being able to win a title that year. I have also compared his attitude on the court to that of former Red Sox player J.D Drew as they were both two players who never seemed to care on the court or field despite expectations for them to care and to perform at a high-level. When the Boston Celtics resigned him this off-season, he was immediately one of the most overpaid players in basketball, thought by many to have received the contract because the Celtics management felt bad about his heart issues the year before.

That’s why anyone, including myself, sort of looks like an ass whenever they speak ill of Jeff Green. The dude almost died just over a year ago, diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition that put his life in jeopardy, never mind his basketball career. Besides, who else was going to be the back-up to Paul Pierce this season? No one else. Even if Jeff Green is over-paid, the value he has to the Celtics is almost incalculable simply as Paul Pierce’s back-up and a vital member of the Boston Celtics crunch time five.

Since Rajon Rondo has gone down, Jeff Green has been better simply because he gets the ball in his hands more. He has averaged 16 points and 4 rebounds a game since the beginning of February and rarely plays a bad game anymore. He also has two game winning shots, both created because of his freakishly long length and ability to get to the basket. There was also the “Jeff Green Game” where he nearly beat LeBron James and the Maimi Heat all by himself.

Jeff Green is slowly morphing into a more valuable piece of the Boston Celtics front-line and as this team gets ready for about the 6th “One last run”, expect Jeff Green to finally make a difference.

I just want to give Jeff Green a hug and tell him “It’s not your fault” like Robin Williams with Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting”. If that sounds familiar, it’s because I wrote a similar thing after the Rajon Rondo game last year. Tonight, it was Jeff Green, who in replacing Kevin Garnett in the starting line-up, went off for 43 points and 7 rebounds, a new career high in points for Jeff Green. His 26 points in the first-half got seemingly every Celtics fan apologizing for every mean thing said about Jeff Green over his Boston career.

I’m sorry Jeff Green, I will never call you JD Drew again #Celtics

— Ryan Sullivan (@rsulliv5) March 19, 2013

Jeff Green is underpaid.

— CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) March 19, 2013

I’ve always, always loved Jeff Green.

— Celtics Town (@CelticsTown) March 19, 2013

For real though, Jeff Green was doing everything that Celtics fans thought they were getting from him back when they traded for Jeff Green three seasons ago. He was aggressive, attacking the lane with his long strides and drawing contacts and getting to the line. When the Heat played off him and he made them pay by hitting outside shots. It was everything the Celtics fans ever wanted him to be, and all while playing defense on Lebron James to boot. Combined with defense from the Celtics aggressive defensive back-court, there seemed to be no way that the Celtics would lose this game.

Except the Boston Celtics turned the ball over 33 times. Then for, even with the great game that Jeff Green played, Lebron James played better. His final line of 37/7/12 doesn’t even begin to explain how good he was in this game. His final shot over the outreached arm of Jeff Green was the snapshot of the game. Jeff Green, playing the best game of his career still couldn’t do enough to stop the best player in the world for winning the game. Heartbreaking for sure.

There are two silver linings to this game.

1. The Boston Celtics were without Kevin Garnett. Yes, Green doesn’t have the same numbers if KG plays, but the Celtics also don’t give up 105 points. There was a moment in the second quarter when the Heat got back into the game where they had seven straight buckets inside the paint. A huge reason for that was the lack of Kevin Garnett who quarterbacks the defense. In fact, there were plenty of times where the defensive rotations looked off and the Celtics lost players none of that happens with KG in the line-up.
2. Linked to the first silver lining, I’m more convinced that the Celtics have a chance in a seven game series with the Miami Heat. This Celtics team has established its identity for the season. They don’t back down from anyone, they pressure the ball up and down the floor and anyone can take on the scoring load from a night to night basis. Tonight, it was Green, but the next one can be Pierce, followed by a big Jet game the next night.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling that the Celtics let one get away tonight. Tonight was a chance for the Celtics to defend home-court and beat Miami once again. They didn’t even though they had every chance in the world to do so with a career night from a man that has been through so much in the past year. It’s not your fault Jeff Green. The chips just didn’t fall the right way.