Of course, Boston fans more than any others know that a series isn't over until the fourth game has been won on either side. See the Red Sox in '04 against the Yankees or in '07 against the Indians. On the flip side, see the Bruins last spring against the Flyers. Even this season, we saw the B's come back from a 2-0 hole. Sure, a 3-1 hole is much different for the Celtics as they fly back down to South Beach for a critical game 5, but who are we to say die just yet? With a win tomorrow night, the series would come back to Boston for game 6 with a chance to force a game 7. That's a situation that plenty of teams have battled through. When you think about it one game at a time -- which this Celtics team has done an exceptional job of in the Big Three era -- the task becomes a little less daunting.
But for the sake of speculation, I take the approach that an unlikely comeback will not surface. If, in fact, the Heat win this series (get my puke bucket ready), have we seen the end of an era in Boston? With a potential NBA lockout looming large and a team full of veterans and hall-of-famers who aren't getting any younger, has the window finally closed on banner 18? It's tough to say. I see Paul Pierce as a guy with plenty of heart left and certainly some more productive years left. I see Ray Allen as the purest shooter the game has ever seen, a guy who has played just as many minutes in the big games over the past few seasons as he has during the rest of his career. I see Kevin Garnett, a player who can't consistently punch through defenses like the Big Ticket he used to be -- still, he's capable of bringing 28 points and 18 boards in big playoff games. Do the C's need more pieces in order to re-establish their dominance? Of course they do. The traditional "Big Three" cannot carry the ship any further by themselves. In that sense, we have reached the end of an era. But with players like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard hitting the market in the near future, you simply cannot count out the possibility that this team finds lightning in a bottle.
If there is a lockout, things look much worse. A full missed season is another year tacked onto all three major veterans for the C's and an increased likelihood of retirement for any of them. With young players like Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green showing promise in the playoffs, anything is possible. But let's be real. It's a star-driven league, and unless the C's find top-notch players to take over for some of the journeymen they have on their squad, the window may be closing harder than we think. Some LA Lakers will be for sale this offseason by all speculation, but those guys are the same type of veterans that the C's will be losing themselves. Young, athletic, energetic stars are the driving force of today's NBA. It's like finding a needle in a haystack these days. It's why the league is so top-heavy and lacks parity each year. The stars take over the games, the stars get the attention and the preference, and the stars win championships. Aside from maybe the Detroit Pistons, how many recent champions have just been a fully well-rounded unit without any studs? It doesn't happen. And when you lose your studs to injury, old age, retirement, whatever it may be -- you usually start the slide back down to the bottom, and you get back in line to climb to the top.
There are ways around that long journey. The best GMs find ways to shorten that transition, even make the transition during the climb in order to stay at the top through it all. That burden falls on Danny Ainge's shoulders. He has plenty of critics to answer and plenty of rebuilding to do within the next few years or less. The journey commences shortly.
It won't commence, however, until Boston says die. Never say die. See you in Miami.
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