We always are looking for a bright side, and maybe this is it: At least no one will be gunning for them now. Teams will measure themselves against Cleveland or Orlando or maybe Los Angeles or Denver. When someone mentions the Big Three now, they will be referring to Dwight Howard and his biceps.
For the past year the Celtics wore the NBA crown along with the bull's eye that comes with it, and Doc Rivers often noted how difficult that made life for his team. Every game felt like a playoff game. Every road arena sounded like an AC/DC concert. Every over-served stewbum in the bar wanted to challenge them to step outside. That burden is gone now, and unfortunately, so is the feeling that the Garnett-Pierce-Allen Celtics are the toughest guys in the joint.
At times it seemed like the past two seasons were played in dramatic slow motion, with Phil Collins playing the drums in the background and singing about something in the air. That something was a level of intensity and passion that was impossible to maintain. No way around it. This window was going to close fast, and when it did, it was going to come down like a guillotine and lop the head off this beast from Boston.
The Big Three all were in their 30s. They all had logged more miles than the Starship Enterprise. There was going to be a day when one (or more) of them went down, and all of Boston's championship hopes and dreams went with him.
It could have happened anytime, any place. Turns out it happened Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. Garnett wrenched his right knee, and everything changed for the defending champs. Suddenly, they were celebrating the return of Brian Scalabrine, who would wear a padded headband and play a vital role off the bench. For the record, Scalabrine DID NOT PLAY A MINUTEin last year's 26 playoff games. Rivers just didn't need him.
With an NBA title seemingly out of reach, we were forced to rework our definition of success. This undermanned Celtics team was not going back to the Finals, not with LeBron's Cavs in tip-top fighting shape, but we were sure of one thing: They would go out like Monty Python's Black Knight, gnawing on someone's leg until the final buzzer sounded. There is no team in recent NBA history with more heart and more guts than the Paul Pierce-led Celtics , and they showed their resilience again in Round 1, outlasting the spunky Bulls in seven games.
And then the Celtics pushed a bigger, deeper, healthier Orlando team to a Game 7, which just happened to be right here in Boston. So it was all set up for one last stand from the heavyweight champs. Here we go again, blaze of glory time, right?
Well, not exactly. The Celtics were 2 1/2-point favorites Sunday night, so technically their 101-82 loss to the Magic was a mild upset. But here was the real shocker: 35 points for Orlando in the fourth quarter. Dunks. Layups. Wide-open 3-pointers followed by Antoine Walker-type dances on the Garden floor. We knew the Celtics would get bumped off at some point. We just didn't expect to see the great Mickael Pietrus doing the shimmy on their graves.
The Celtics were trailing by just five points with 12 minutes left in the season, but apparently, there was no fight left in them. This was their fourth Game 7 in the past two seasons; they had won the previous three by an average of 16 points. They obviously were tired, but how many times have we seen an exhausted Pierce or a worn-out Ray Allen rise up and make one more clutch play?
There is something unsettling about a team that had nothing left IN THE SECOND ROUNDof the playoffs. The NBA postseason is, in many ways, a battle of attrition, and that is not going to change next year. The Celtics have no room under the salary cap for free agents. They have no first-round draft choice. Their top pick from last year was sitting on the bench Sunday in street clothes. J.R. Giddens is not ready to contribute, even though, at 24, he's almost a year older than Dwight Howard.
``I honestly believe we are the best team in the NBA when we are healthy,'' Pierce said. ``And next year if we are healthy again, we'll be the best team again.''
IF they're healthy? That is an IF so big Howard probably couldn't lift it. Allen will be 34 next season, ancient for an NBA guard. Garnett presumably will be coming off knee surgery. Pierce will be playing with the same reckless abandon he has always played with. Anything is possible, as someone once screamed, but it sure seems like a stretch to expect the Celts' three Hall of Famers to remain upright and intact for another 100-plus games next season.
During the weekend the Celtics shared the back page with David Ortiz, which somehow seems fitting. The Sox' struggling slugger has left us wondering if he has reached the end of the line. It happens to all athletes. They get old, they get slow, they get hurt. They lose it.
Officially, Ortiz is 33 years old. Ironically, another great Boston athlete turns 33 today.
Happy birthday, Kevin Garnett.
Get well. Get back.
Things were just too quiet around here without you.
