Report by Brendan Sullivan
Brendan Sullivan takes a weekly look at the NBA teams in the Atlantic Division - Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors - and breaks down what happened the week before and what to expect in the week ahead, as well as injuries and trades.
Recap Rewind: It's been well-documented over the entire season: the Celtics transformed this year from an ugly 24-58 caterpillar to a 66-16 monarch butterfly. Who's to thank? Kevin Garnett is to thank. As Paul Pierce recently gushed to reporters, Garnett "changed the culture of the Celtics", turning them from a D-League-quality playground team to a team that everybody wanted to be a part of. The Celtics not only had the third-best regular-season record in team history (better than 14 Celtics championship teams), but beat every other team in the league over the span of the season.
Notable News: Ironically, the most amazing thing about the Celtics drastic roster changes this season, were the parts that didn't change at all. As I noted in the midst of last summer's mega-trade euphoria, the fact that the Celtics landed two all-stars (KG, Ray Allen) and built a solid bench from scratch (Sam Cassell, James Posey, Eddie House and [del]Scott Pollard[/del]) WITHOUT trading their best player from last season (Paul Pierce) is an absolute coup. You also have to credit the foresight of the front office, for insisting on holding onto Rajon Rondo, who outplayed anybody's wildest expectations with a mix of a vastly improved jump shot, great vocal leadership, and the most jaw-dropping point guard moves Boston has seen since Bob Cousy.
Fast Forward: The Celtics take the number one seed in the Playoffs, with home court advantage throughout. Although they played their best basketball of the season after the all-star break, they need to be sure to maintain their intensity now that the real season has arrived. Haters love to compare them to last year's Mavericks, but I just don't see the Atlanta Hawks playing the part of the Warriors. Anything short of the Finals will be a disappointment to this team and their rabid fans. Anything short of the Eastern Conference Finals would be disastrous let down.
ATLANTIC DIVISION REPORTS
Boston Celtics/New Jersey Nets/New York Knicks/Philadelphia 76ers/Toronto Raptors