Time to Step up "Boston Threeparty"

I enjoy ESPN commercials as much as anyone else, and the Boston Threeparty is fairly witty, but right now the guys are looking foolish in the face of an overachieving Atlanta Hawks team. Tonight it was all about Kevin Garnett who played a steady game, leading the team in points (22), rebounds (7), assists (6), blocks (3) and steals (2). Meanwhile for Boston it was a quiet night from Sam Cassell who has been the biggest indicator of the team's success so far in the playoffs. In Boston's three wins Cassell is averaging 11 ppg compared to 2 ppg in their three losses. Not surprising, it is typically the bench that makes the difference between a good team and a great team.

For the scrappy Hawks team it has not been a series of lucky shots or hot 3-point shooting. In fact, Joe Johnson's 3-pointer with just over a minute to go was the only successful 3-pointer from the team that finished 1-7 behind the line.

Meanwhile, Cleveland closed out the Washington Wizards and will be awaiting the winner of Boston and Atlanta. The expectation of Boston vs. Los Angeles in the finals is in serious jeopardy at this point while Kevin Garnett's teammates look more like members of the Minnesota Timberwolves than perennial all-stars.

If the Celtics go down it will mean a likely rematch between Cleveland and Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals, and again it would likely be LeBron versus the balanced Pistons. That said, let's not get ahead of ourselves as Boston should be a heavy favorite going into game 7 and Kevin Garnett and the Celts should step up to claim the first round victory.

Avery Johnson is the only person who wouldn't blame Doc Rivers if the Celtics lost in round 1 of the playoffs. Afterall, doesn't the regular season mean anything?