The Celtics have the best record in basketball. They have the best defense in basketball (and the defensive player of the year). They have three perennial all-stars, and just pick one of them, and he has more playoff experience than the Atlanta Hawks.
As for the Hawks, they had the worst record of the 16 playoff teams. And their record wasn’t even above .500. But the Celtics and Hawks play Game 7 today.
This isn’t David versus Goliath. This is David’s nonathletic-homebody-bookworm brother Larry versus Goliath.
If the Hawks win, it will be the greatest playoff upset ever.
Consider that only three other teams have ever knocked off a No. 1 seed since the NBA switched to a 16-team postseason format.
Our town’s Nuggets defeated George Karl and Seattle in 1994, but for all the history and hoopla, one must remember that it was in a five- game series. The 1999 Knicks (with center Marcus Camby) defeated the No. 1 Heat, but that was in a lockout-shortened season, so if 82 games had been played, it’s possible the injury-plagued Knicks would have finished higher than eighth.
Now, the Warriors’ series win last year was pretty cool. They defeated the No. 1 Mavericks, who won 67 games, had the MVP, the reigning coach of the year and another all- star. We cannot knock what Golden State accomplished — though we will, at least, make reference to the Warriors’ high-risk, mountaintop- reward offense, with its continuous fast breaks and long-range shooting. And Golden State was coached by Don Nelson, who was the Yoda to Dallas coach Avery Johnson. So maybe he knew what was coming. Still, it was the greatest upset in basketball history, for at least a couple more hours.
The Hawks have risen to the occasion in three games, all in Atlanta, where a don’t-stop-believin’ crowd watched the third-youngest team in the NBA slap around the pre- ordained victors. On Friday, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, the most unrecognizable all-star since Hersey Hawkins, pump-faked a defender and hit a long 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the game, giving the Hawks a five-point lead.
For all intents and purposes, it was a game-winner in the biggest game for Atlanta in the past decade.
OK, OK, it’s quite possible the Celtics will return to being the Celtics today and the Hawks’ bandwagon — which I hopped onto with Wednesday’s Page 2 column — will run out of gas. The Celtics won all three games at home this series, and they had the second-best home record during the regular season. And I cannot envision Kevin Garnett allowing his team to lose this game.
But the Hawks, my goodness, what a crew. It’s easy for critics to knock “lack of experience,” but sometimes these don’t-know-any-better teams play unfazed (such as Josh Beckett and the 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins). To win this game, Johnson must keep shooting and Mike Bibby must restrain from shooting — he was Clankenstein all fourth quarter of Game 6, while his passing was smart all game (seven assists, no turnovers). Josh Childress, the winner of the Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington lookalike contest, needs to keep banging the boards and igniting his hustle, which was inspirational in Game 6.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll see some history.
All they have to do is beat the Celtics in Boston.
