I'm curious what people think - is the legacy of the KG/PP/Allen Celtics any greater than the Billups-led Pistons team that won the title? Is it any different? Who would win in a 7 game series, the 04 Pistons or the 08 Celtics?
Etc etc...point being, will this Celtics team be remember any differently than the 04 Pistons team?
The 2008 Celts were one of the best teams in nba history.
I think this is a stretch. And the Mavs title team is also an interesting comparison that someone mentioned in the thread.
I'm not sure that one of the best teams in NBA history should've had such a mediocre playoff run that required two 7 game series and 2 six game series.
I don't think it's a stretch.
They absolutely dominated the regular season like few teams ever have. Their double-digit point-differential (45(!) wins by 10+ and only 3 losses by 10+) is something that doesn't happen often. If KG doesn't strain his abdomen (lost two games without him and 3 straight when he returned after 4 weeks of inactivity), we may have won 70.
We had the best record every day of the entire season, and nobody threatened us all year (finished 7 games up on 2nd-best Pistons). We beat every team at least once (and all but Utah by 10+).
People will point to our 10 losses in the playoffs, but the 16 are what matter. We got the job done, and never trailed in any series. The first round was arguably the most lopsided 7 game series ever. It took us 7 to beat LeBron (defending EC champ, 66-win team next season), and then took 6 against Detroit (made 4 straight ECF) and Lakers (won next two titles) -- both very good teams obviously.
Had we only lost 3 or 4 games in the playoffs, we would be on the short list of great teams, but too many will look at how long it took us to finish teams. It's flawed logic IMO. We were in a class of our own during the regular season, and raised the trophy in the end. I believe had we not been put together just 9 months prior, we wouldn't have taken as long.
Had KG not gotten injured in 2009, I believe that team would have steamrolled through the East and not had much difficulty with LA in the Finals. Most guys had to learn how to win, Doc included.
But that 2007-08 team was a thing of beauty. Few teams crushed opponents night in and night out like Boston did.