The Celtics are off to a 3rd consecutive hot start, with their league-best 8-1 record, the lone loss coming to a resurgent Suns team. Three straight seasons of early success have actually put the Celtics into the record books; since the Garnett and Allen trades, they are an astonishing 57-6 in games played before Christmas.
They've still got about 90% of the season left to play, but the first few weeks have been very auspicious. Garnett's knee injury appears to be nothing but a memory. The team has given a lucrative contract to Rajon Rondo, who has been earning his money two years now, and continues to be one of the elite point guards in the league, ranking 4th in assists and 1st in steals. Pierce, Allen, and Perkins are doing their thing, too.
The defense is 1st in the league in fewest points allowed; the team has won at home and on the road, on short rest and long. They made an early statement with their season opener in Cleveland. Tonight's big game in Atlanta will be another test. Things in the Atlantic Division seem pretty free and clear, too, at this early stage.
Things are not looking quite so good for the Knicks, who have managed just one win so far in nine attempts. But, hey, at least they're not the Nets...
MILES:
Yours is a very good team, particularly the starting five. 94-25, when healthy, is ridiculous. The pre-Christmas record, though, is incidental, as much a byproduct of the utter crapiness of their division competition as it is of the team's talent level. But who cares? That's kind of like parsing Obama's campaign strategy against McCain in the San Francisco Bay Area. It doesn't matter. The Celtics are just that freaking good, and are a total nightmare for any team in the NBA, including the Lakers. A wise man once told me not to bet against the toughness of Paul Pierce. It's like denying the Holocaust, or something.
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