Celtics at the New Year

Never in my wildest dreams that the Celtics would be 26 and 3 at the New Year leading the NBA in the standings. Yet the naysayers argued that the Celtics had a soft schedule. Well the first WC road trip yielded 4 wins in 5 nights. In your face Naysayers. As Moss would say, it was satisfying shutting you naysayers up.

The 4 wins were against Sacremento (a good solid 35 win team in the tougher conference and Boston had not won their during Pierce's tenure), Seattle (young and enthusiastic plus Wally and West were motivated), Utah (They don't give up many in their Salt Palace), and of course the Fakers (What was that Tackle by Lamar Odom on Ray Allen for).

I went to the game in Seattle and it was a good game by the Celtics. I think this Durant kid will be special. West and Sczerbiak were huge in the 2nd qtr. West whacked Garnett from behind. Man I miss that kid but he had to go to make room for Ray Allen (which led to the Garnett deal). The Celtics pulled away slowly as Seattle made Boston work for this win. Pierce had an outstanding game and this is much his best season.

Beating the Fakers was special because the Celtics denied Phil Jackson his 939th coaching win to surpass Red Auerbach. No coach shall ever get their 939th win against the Celtics. It is one of the ten commandments of the NBA. And we finally have the upper hand in the rivalry and are much closer to winning the next championship.

So what does 26 and 3 mean at this juncture? We are on pace for a 50 game improvement in the standings from last year. The 17th NBA championship is a good possibility, too.

Now add in the Sixteen consecutive Patriot victories and that makes Boston 42-3 for the two non baseball local sports entries. The Celtics play Yao Ming and T-Mouth Wednesday and at Detriot, Saturday.

So the Triple Crown watch is on for 2008.