On Top of the First Mountain - Our Sensei Comes of Age

They say we can't win. That we are battered and bruised. They say we are weak, where we once were strong. They say our foe is too great. They say we are too old. They say we are too inexperienced. They say we will not stand up in the face of adversity

In a game that reminded all of us why we fell in love with the Celtics long ago, Boston vanquished Cleveland from the Garden floor 76-72. Our Sensei beasted brightly, leading the charge of the Celtics Stoic defense with an impressive 12 rebounds and a solid 7 pts from the floor. No, Ray did not have his C game tonight. No, the truth was koan-ed by the inept officiating. This was...

Round 1 is over for the Boston Celtics, finally. Frankly, it was quite nerve-wracking. Game 7 for the first round? At least they won in the end. And yes, as long as they win at home the whole way through they will win the championship, but this is highly unlikely. You need to win during away games too. Round 2 is up, and let's hope that the C's can finish this series in...

For the Celtics to win this series, they need more of the same. They need more Kendrick Perkins. NBA Action. Win or go home! Roll Celtics roll!

Basketball is a funny game sometimes. On paper, it looked like Boston's first round series would be a cakewalk. Here you go, Big Three. Here's a young, inexperienced 37-45 team to sweep before you give your old bones some rest. Or, if you want, you can drop a game in Atlanta so you can give your fans a treat and win Game 5 in front of them. Only it didn't work out...

This was a very strange game from start to finish. It was highlighted by 38 turnovers: 21 for the Celtics and 17 for the Cavs. The stars of the game, other than Kevin Garnett couldn't score and it was a defensive struggle on both sides. The Cavs shot 31% while the Celtics shot 43%. It was ugly, but it should answer the questions about whether the Celtics could win a close game...

...The rest of the Cavs really don't scare me. Of course, they didn't scare anybody last season and they made it to the Finals, so let's not take ANOTHER team for granted. The 'X' factors for the Cavs are, oddly enough, ex-Celtics Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. They've been fairly inconsistent (which isn't all that surprising to us), but each have...

Looks like there is a bad case of double-standards being conconcted by the Cavs supporters by saying that a 45-37 team's record doesn't matter, but a 37-45 team does. What kind of math says that when you are only 8 games ahead of Atlanta during the regular season, that you think you are on top of the world. Just because you beat a Wizards team in 6 games?

There a a ton of storylines for tonight's game, but the biggest, and most important, revolves around LeBron James. LeBron nearly had a quadrupal-double tonight, putting up 12-9-9-10... that's 12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 10 turnovers. Oh yeah, he also only made 2 field goals (on 18 attempts) and missed the potential game-tying layup with a few seconds left. To...

Celtics win 76-72 in a defensive struggle of titanic proportions. The carnage included the great LeBron James going 2-18 and the all-stars Pierce going for 2-14 and Ray Allen 0-4 AND going scoreless for the first time since 1979. Put those remarkable numbers aside, and you have to elevate Garnett to MVP status -oops, he got bumped on that one, make that player of the game for doing...

RedsArmy is so convinced the Celtics will win the next round they are blatantly posting tips to help Cleveland beat Boston. Red may have an army, but I have Game Buddy #2. Calling in the Big Guns here and I mean that in every sense.

Waiting For Next Year, a Cleveland Sports Blog talks with Red's Army about the Cavs/Celtics series.

Not wanting to dampen enthusiasm yet concerned for his adopted hometown, Jeff Sack guest blogs with a cautionary tale.

The whole world is on this kick to go green. Well on Sunday afternoon in Boston the TD BankNorth Garden was nothing but green as the Boston Celtics left no doubt as to who had the best record in the NBA this season as they routed the Atlanta Hawks 99-65 in a decisive Game Seven.

LeBron has an opening. The Celtics look weary.