Lost in Boston

Back in February, the Boston Celtics were the number one team in the Eastern Conference and cruising into the playoffs.  Shaq was out, but Kendrick Perkins and Delonte West both had returned from injury and it looked like the Celtics were going to head into the playoffs with a head of steam, rather than limp into them like last season.  They held tiebreakers over Miami and Chicago and it looked like they were going to be the team to beat out East.

Then, the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder for Jeff Green and the Celtics chemistry and motivation up and left.  Not to mention, by trading Perkins, Boston decided to put its eggs in Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neals' basket.  Jermaine came back last week and has contributed in limited time, while Shaq came back for a total of 6 minutes before getting injured again.  The two of them haven't even combined for 60 games played and their other center, Nenad Kristic is hurt as well.  Rondo is banged up, and if he is hurt the Celtics offense does not run smoothly.

While the Celtics have struggled, Chicago has become the team to beat in the East and will likely claim the conference title.  Miami has passed Boston in the Celtics and if Shaq can't contribute, the Heat would have to be a slight favorite to eliminate them.  The Celtics have lost that swagger they had in the beginning part of the season and aren't playing like the team that was six minutes away from winning the title last season.  Now, in order to win they would have to do it on the road.  The whole point this season was that they wanted to have that extra bit of homecourt advantage into the NBA Finals and now it looks like they won't even have it for the second round.

The Celtics championship window was closing even before this season started, as the Big Three plus the O'Neals only have a limited shelf life before they are not enough as a unit to compete.  If Shaq is out and there is no bench, this season could be the last time for a while that Gang Green is a championship contender.  Of course, everyone was saying that last year when they tanked the second half of the season and ended up as a four seed.  The big difference last year was that Pierce and Garnett had minor nagging injuries going into the postseason.  This year, there are some serious depth issues that could impede a run to the title.  Pinning your hopes on Shaquille O'Neal made sense in 2002, but doing so in 2011 is suicidal to a team's chances.  Cleveland thought Shaq would get them over the hump last year, but it only got them a second round exit.  For Boston's sake, history better not repeat itself.