Was The Celtics Winning Streak A Mirage?

Wow, last night was ugly. I wasn't all that surprised. I thought if the Celtics were going to win it would be a very close game, but if they lost it would be a blowout. The Celtics are good at winning close games, which was proved with the wins over the Knicks and Rockets, so that's why I thought if the Celtics could hang around they could pull it off. But I knew they wouldn't have legs, and that was the case, and the 76ers just ran them out of the building. I had to turn the game off around the 3rd quarter it was so bad, and then I sat and thought about this team's recent surge. Was it real? A sign that the Celtics were turning the corner, and just happened to run out of gas on a night when they had to play back-to-back games after 2 games in which they were both overtime games? Or was it all a Mirage?

The Celtics were on a 5 game winning streak...

@Cle Won 86-83
Mil Won 102-96
NJ Won 107-94
NY Won 115-111 (OT)
Hou Won 97-92

Of those 5 games only the Knicks are currently a playoff team and they are 3 games under .500, so these are teams the Celtics SHOULD beat. Look closely at those scores. The only game the Celtics really dominated was the Nets. The Celtics are just 6-11 against teams with winning records. To make matters worse 18 of the remaining 28 games for the Celtics are against teams with winning records.

The Celtics season can go one of two ways. If they keep their current roster they will make the playoffs as either a 7 or 8 seed. They will play the Heat or the Bulls and most likely get knocked out right away. The only other way I see that changing is if the 76ers really shit the bed the rest of the season and the Celtics can somehow squeak through by winning the Atlantic division get to play the Pacers or the Hawks in the first round and maybe that win that.

The other option is to end it now by trading guys like Allen. Actually hope you miss the postseason, and get a lottery pick in a deep draft. Even with their tough schedule it would be tough for the Celtics to miss the playoffs they are 5.5 games ahead of the #9 seed (Cavs/Bucks). So, unless the Celtics really blow it up by trading 2 or 3 of the big 3 I don't see that happening.

So what would you do? Let the Celtics ride the season out, or blow it up now?

I think I am on the side of letting it ride out. I don't see them missing the playoffs either way, and I don't see them getting anything but picks for guys like Allen, but I am very interested to hear what everyone else thinks....