Another One for the W4 Councilor

I think, in a moment of extreme dread and oncoming depression, I mumbled -- not yelled -- "oh, no, not that guy," at about 11:05 last night.

At that point, Kevin Garnett had thrown the ball away and it ended up in the hands of Robert "Big Shot" Horry. But last night, Big Shot didn't come through, and the Celtics did. And this morning, whooo wheee, I'm here to write about a great game and team that might just be a real, live, title contender.

Whenever you beat the defending champs, that's good stuff. Whenever you beat the defending champs in their place, that's very good stuff. Whenever you beat the defending champs in their place when they clearly bring their A-game, that's great stuff. Whenever you beat the defending champs in their place when they clearly bring their A-game and you're down 22 in the second quarter, that's ridiculously amazing stuff.

Winning, of course, makes watching more entertaining, but last night's game was an absolute delight. It was entertaining, energized, full of passion and big plays. It was physical, it was bumpy, it was one of the better games you'll see this year.

The Spurs played a ridiculously beautiful first quarter. The Celtics played with fire in the second, and played some of the best six minutes of the season at the beginning of the third. The fourth quarter bogged down toward the end, but it was tense, big shots were made, and it was worth staying up for.

For Celtics fans, this was, of course, a quality, quality win. Not only did the team win, but Rajon Rondo played Tony Parker to a virtual draw. He was phenomenal after a slow start. Sam Cassell carried the Celts in the second quarter, and hit essentially the game-winning three late in the fourth. It looked like he might have -- might have -- done a slight version of his big balls dance. Which rocks. I love Sam Cassell, and that won't be the last big shot he hits this year. Garnett was shaky in the last minute (missed jumper, that bad, bad throwaway) but his energy picked the team up when down 20, and his defense was outstanding throughout.

For non-fans, you missed a good one, and it was a good example of how the game has changed for the better. The Celts' two biggest crunch-time shots were threes from Eddie House and the Cassell bomb. Both (particularly House's) were created through ball movement. The days of isolation drives are fading fast. Particularly for the Celts.

The best news? It's pretty clear the Celtics are title contenders. The road will be tough. They'll likely have to get by LeBron James in the second round, and the Pistons in the East finals. Neither is an easy chore. But from what we've seen over the last month (12-of-13, Garnett back healthy, a strong bench, huge pickup in Cassell, the further growth of Rondo, solid minutes from Tony Allen), the Celts should be a strong favorite to get out of the East. The question is, can they hang with a West team for seven games? The West is far, far superior, but the C's have shown enough -- particularly last night -- to increase the hopes that they can make it happen.

All that said, they're back at it tonight, and all signs point to them taking the loss. At Houston, second game of back-to-back, and Houston has a nice little (22-game) winning streak. Such is life in the NBA, but like their title chances, you have to think that maybe tonight they can pull it off.