the 22 points would have been made up by the injured Vince Carter, so would have been a far better judge of form if he was playing.

I want to see how the Celtics come out of the Texas triangle (Dallas, Houston and Spurs) and the Valley of the Sun before I'll completely jump on the bandwagon...

They will go deep into the East finals
but the West has way better teams and the
winner will not be Boston.

Exactly - no hype over beating ANY east team. Maybe Detroit with a resurgent 'Sheed.

If they beat Spurs/Houston/Dallas/Phoenix then I'll take notice.

The other thing you are assuming is that those old guys won't get injured. I suppose the same argument applies to the Spurs though.

60 wins!!!

The celtics are awesome..they are beating teams by 15 + points.
KG is getting a double-double every game
Ray is money from downtown
Pierce is dropping 20 a game
Rajon is dropping dimes everywhere

This team has the potential to be a 65 wins team
Predicted Record: 66-16

The Celtics beat New Jersey last week with a fit carter!

There not even close to the spurs, dallas or the suns they just havent versed any of the gd teams yet

Celtics havent really been tested yet. But i think they will do fine against the West, don't underestimate just how good KG is and just how much those 3 All-Stars scare the heck out of ANY defence! I'd be surprised if they couldn't beat a Spurs type team in 6 games....

Spurs, as good as they have been, really haven't been tested by a Eastern team with more than 1-2 main stars.

Eastern conference finals at the minimum. Not sure how they will do against some of the better teams from the west.. but I think they might suprise a few people. Bottom line, I can't see too many teams in the East capable of going with them in a 7 game series. Should make the playoffs more interesting this year :-)

I think Bill Simmons (although biased), makes a good case for them. Their 3 'stars' aren't playing for money or for stats anymore, they simply want a championship and are playing in that 'I don't care if my stats are crap as long as we win' mode. According to AP today, all three had a quiet one (for their standards) and their role players stepped up.

Will be very hard to beat in the East imo. Boston will surely be in the East Finals at a minimum, unless they run into an extremely hot LeBron or Wade in the Semis.

They will give it a mighty shake .

Besides the big three and Rondo they have some underrated role players .

Perkins is a solid defensive C who at worst provides a big body that can bang , board and block shots .

Posey will gain value as season progresses into playoffs with his rugged D , rebounding and crunch 3 pt shooting .

House is quietly having a stellar season providing instant scoring off the bench . In 19 minutes per contest he is dialling in 8 pts , 2 reb , 2 ass and 1 stl with a couple of 3's at 44% from the floor .

Tony Allen can certainly produce when needed and is gaining confidence in both his knee and subsequently game .

Powe and Davis are solid units who can provide front court relief with bursts of hustle and bustle .

Pollard is an experienced , level headed C who can relieve Perkins when required .