he could always do a Paul Pierce resurrection from injury thing ...

it doesn't matter about Powe... if big baby keeps putting up 21 shots a game they won't get out of the first round!

he won't keep shooting that percentage!

I thought the question "Are the Celts done?" was definitively answered when KG went down, personally. Losing Powe isn't merely another blow to their fortunes; it's just a footnote on the obituary which has already been written. IMO, YMMV, etc.

I agree with hereschenes. Without KG they were always going to struggle. I think they are still a chance of making it to the East finals given they have two All Stars in Pierce and Allen as well as Rondo (who will be an All Star within a year or two - and is playing like one at the moment). Obviously the bigs are a bit of an issue but they do play hard. Given that Orlando are pretty banged up and they have got the better of Philly recently (without KG) I think they COULD get thru to meet the Cavs. But - they need to get the Bulls first which will be tough. This series could easily be 2-0 in either teams favour right now. Bring on Game 3!

Yeah, agree with that TMC. I should have added before, I don't mean that they're no chance against the Bulls, but I do think that they're no chance of taking it all again this year. Boston with The Big Three(TM) is a completely different proposition to Boston with The Reasonably-Large Two.

I still think they should beat the Bulls, but boy are they in a series. Without KG, the Celtics no longer have enough interior D to corral guys when they frequently get by their man. That is forcing them to drop off their man a little more, and that means a jumpshooting team like the Bulls is getting a lot better looks at the basket.

On the other side of the coin, the Bulls can't defend the Celtics either, because they can't keep them off the offensive glass (they had 16 more shots in game 2) and they can't stop Rondo. If the Celtics make the right adjustments, Allen and Pierce should get a lot more open looks as well.

So basically this series is going to be a shootout. Number one, Ray Allen has to play better D on Gordon. If the Celtics can't do a better job of forcing Gordon towards the help defence with Ray on him, they might have to try Tony Allen, and go small with Ray v Salmons at the 3 and Pierce at the 4.

Number two, the Celtics guards have to be in position to defend the fast break, or Rose will have another night out.

Number three, Celtics bigs have to stop the stupid moving pick and pushing fouls. Bulls only stayed in game two because of foul shots and Ben Gordon's 3 point shooting.

As far as the championship goes, the Celtics have been done since KG was shut down for the second time. But as a Celtics fan, I'm still enjoying this series with the Bulls. Game two was an absolute cracker, with the Bulls taking some big shots from the Celtics and punching back, before Ray managed to win a classic shootout with Gordon at the end. Who could ask for more?

Wouldn't lose too much sleep about Gordon, BT. I mean, he was lights-out in game two, but he's just as likely to stink it up for game three... he's way too erratic. Just look at his FGM-A stats across the season - all over the place!

http://linky.com.au/3dpmi

here's the test for Doc, I'm still not sold on him been a "great" coach, if he still leads Boston to a C, then I'll give it to him...

I think if e can get them to the conference Finals then he deserves his props. Jackson, Riley Sloan or whoever else would be lucky to go further than that with that team.

Tough criteria there LA! Do you think Phil Jackson or Pat Riley would get the same Celtics team to the champhionship with the injuries they've had? I give them no chance!

If Doc gets them to the conference finals against Cleveland he will well and truly have earned his stripes amongst the NBA rank and file IMO.