Joakim Noah (middle) made a great defensive play for Chicago late in Game 6 and Rajon Rondo (right) could not deliver the game-winning shot for Boston.

Overtimes, buzzer-beaters, late-game heroics, flagrant fouls and one bloody nose.  Game 6 between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls was an instant classic. The whole series has been one for the NBA archives. Four of the six games have gone into overtime (seven overtimes total) and five of the six games have been decided by five points or less. In the words of the great lyrical poet Kanye West, this series has been “So amazing … So amazing … So amazing.”

You have to go back to the early 1980s to make a comparison. The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers waged a seven-game Eastern Conference war in 1981 and again 1982, with the Celtics winning in ‘81 and the Sixers winning in ‘82. Those two battles produced many, many memorable plays and earned Sixer guard Andrew Toney the nickname “Boston Strangler” for his penchant for silencing the Boston Garden crowd.

The only difference between this season’s Boston-Chicago showdown and the epic battles in the ’80s is that the stakes were higher for Boston and Philly. The 2009 Boston-Chicago matchup is being played out in the first round, whereas Larry Bird’s Celtics and Julius Erving’s 76ers went head to head in the conference finals. But that should not minimize the greatness of this year’s playoff series.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, the 2008-09 rookie of the year, got the party started with a 36-point performance in Game 1 to briefly steal home-court advantage away from the Celtics. Game 2 saw a UConn shootout between Ray Allen and Ben Gordon. Despite Gordon’s 42-point effort, it was Allen who had the last say when he buried a trey over 6-11 Joakim Noah for the game-winner. After Boston wrestled home court back with a blowout victory in Game 3, the Bulls tied the series at 2 by winning Game 4 in overtime.

Things got heated in Game 5 in Boston as Rajon Rondo gave Brad Miller a dose of his own medicine but smacking him so hard on the face that Miller’s head was still ringing when he missed both free throws, and the Celtics escaped with a 106-104 win.

But the first five games were all trumped by Game 6. There were not enough superlatives to describe Thursday night’s game at the United Center in Chicago.

John Salmons channeled his inner-Jordan, dropping 35 points on the C’s despite logging 59 out of a possible 63 minutes of court time. Miller, the goat of Game 5, scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench. On the other hand, Allen played like a God in Game 6, channeling his inner Jesus Shuttlesworth, swishing two miraculous shots in two of the three OTs just to keep the game going. Ray-Ray lit up the Bulls for a record-tying nine 3-pointers en route to a 51-point performance in 58 minutes, and STILL his supernatural effort was not enough to save the Celtics. Rondo – who has been nothing short of brilliant in the series, averaging a triple double entering the sixth game – had 19 assists and played another solid all-around game. But Rondo could not deliver in the clutch as his potential game-winning shot was blocked by Rose to secure the Bulls’ 128-127 triple-overtime victory.

Allen said he wished he could have done more. “When you are on the losing end, you think about all the (plays) you missed,” Allen said. Hard to blame a guy who just dropped 51 points and hit the 3-pointer that sent the game into a third OT. If there is blame to pass around, it should be pointed at Celtics coach Doc Rivers for not giving Allen the ball in the Celtics’ second-to-last possession that resulted in a blocked shot, and at Paul Pierce for his costly mistake.

Pierce, Boston’s go-to guy and the hero of Game 5, had a rough Game 6. He took an inadvertent shot to the nose in the third quarter and briefly left the bench area to have it mended in the locker room. His fatigued legs also failed him late. With the game tied at 123, Pierce coughed up the ball to Noah, who then outsprinted Pierce for an and-one dunk to give the Bulls a three-point lead and send Pierce to the bench after committing his sixth foul.

Game 7 wasn’t so special since both teams looked absolutely gassed. The Celtics were saved by their bench, mainly Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House, to finally eliminate the pesky Bulls and advance to the conference semifinals against Orlando. Though the ending did not live up to the hype, the seven-game series was still one for the history books.

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The Boston Celtics are not optimistic about Kevin Garnett's injured knee.

When Paul Pierce was asked which team was the toughest to eliminate in the Celtics’ road to winning their 17th championship, he said, without any hesitation, “Cleveland.”

The Cavaliers pushed the Celtics to seven grueling games in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals, and when the series was over, the Celtics and pretty much every team in the East said that if Cavaliers management provides LeBron James another all-star player to play with, look out!

When Mo Williams joined Cleveland this season, the Cavs soared to the best record in franchise history and claimed home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.

News of Kevin Garnett to likely to miss the entire playoffs was so devasting that Boston GM Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack.  Garnett was tabbed very, very questionable by Coach Doc Rivers after watching KG struggle in practice. Though Boston will not be the same without its quarterback on defense, the Celtics are still the champs and they still have two studs in Pierce and Ray Allen.

Orlando did not finish well and is still vastly untested in the playoffs. As good as Dwight Howard has been during the regular season, there are still doubts about his ability to consistently carry the Magic on his broad shoulders when it matters most. He still lacks a killer instinct. He’s just too nice. And if Orlando gets in any type of trouble, it will be interesting to watch whether Coach Stan Van Gundy pushes the panic button.

OneManFastbreak.net analyzes and predicts the winners of the Eastern Conference playoffs:

FIRST ROUND

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons – In a rematch of the 2007 conference finals, this should be a one-sided affair. Cleveland will not overlook Detroit. CAVALIERS IN 4.

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls – The Bulls will make it close but the Celtics have enough pride to avoid getting bounced in the first round. CELTICS IN 5.

(3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers – Orlando swept the Sixers during the regular season and there is no reason why the Magic can’t do the same in the playoffs. MAGIC IN 4.

(4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat – NBA scoring champ Dwyane Wade is good enough to extend this series to the max. But in the end, home-court advantage will be the difference. HAWKS IN 7.

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Atlanta Hawks – Size will matter in this series. Can the undersized Hawks keep up with the bigger Cavs? The answer: too much Ilgauskas, Varejao and LeBron. CAVALIERS IN 6.

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Orlando Magic – With or without KG, the Celtics are still better than the Magic. Boston won 62 games and most of it was done without Garnett. CELTICS IN 6.

CONFERENCE FINALS

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (2) Boston Celtics – When Boston was completely healthy last season and LeBron was basically by himself, it still took the Celts seven games to knock off the Cavs. This season, Cleveland clinches the series in Boston. CAVALIERS IN 6.

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Kobe Bryant played like an MVP against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day. (GETTY IMAGES)

Chants of “Boston Sucks!” rained all over Staples Center on Christmas Day. The L.A. crowd were feeling good after the Lakers defeated the Celtics, 92-83, to end Boston’s 19-game winning streak and gain an upperhand in the season series.

The Celtics, who had won 19 in a row heading into the highly anticipated showdown, might have pulled a stinker on Christmas but I’m not ready to scream “Boston Sucks!”….not yet. From what I saw sitting 20 rows from courtside at the Downtown Hoop Dojo (that’s for you, Vic The Brick), the Lakers played their best on best ends while the Celtics were not at their best. What does that mean? It means that when both teams are playing at optimum level, the Celtics are the better team.

The Lakers caught the Cs on an off night and Kobe Bryant played near-perfect ball. The Black Mamba consistently made his mid-range J and made two incredible passes to Pau Gasol late in the game to seal the victory. It was 81-81 with about five minutes to play, and then the Lakers blitzed the Celtics, 11-2, down the stretch by playing smart on offense and tough on defense.

Phil Jackson employed a double-team trap on Paul Pierce, forcing him to give up the ball. When Pierce could not get unwind, the Boston offense stalled. The Celtics do not run a complicated scheme on offense. They rely on Pierce and Rajon Rondo to break down the defense. Rondo finds Kevin Garnett or Kendrick Perkins for easy baskets or kicks it out to Pierce and Ray Allen for threes. Pierce loves to operate on the elbows and work his way in with an array of spin moves. To his surprise, when he spun baseline or toward the middle of the lane, there were two Lakers waiting for him.

Some of the credit on defense should go to Sasha Vujacic, who made Ray Allen work extremely hard just to get his shot off. It was a stark contrast from what happened during the the NBA Finals when Allen dropped 3 after 3 after 3 on Vujacic and the Lakers. Vujacic made the adjustment on Allen by being more physical with him as he made his way around the screens.

Vujacic was also a spark on offense, hitting 3-pointers and stretching the Celtics defense with his range. Lamar Odom also played well off the bench, hitting two crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers some separation. In The Finals, the Celtics dared Odom to shoot from the outside and he allowed KG and Co. to get into his head. This time, when Odom got an open look he shot with more confidence.

Andrew Bynum did not post monster numbers, but Boston definitely felt his presence in the paint. Rondo and Pierce had a tough time finishing at the rim because of Bynum’s length, a contrast from last June when Pierce, Allen and Rondo easily got to the rim without much resistance. Bynum also kept Perkins from mauling the Laker bigs inside, and took advantage of Boston’s undersized second unit that includes 6-6 Leon Powe and 6-5 Glenn “Big Baby” Davis. This is where the Celtics miss the services of P.J. Brown and James Posey. Posey stretches the defense with his range while Brown is very skilled at guarding the post. Time will tell if the Boston bench mob, which now relies heavily on Tony Allen and Eddie House for offense, can surivive without Brown and Posey.  

The Lakers gained some much-needed confidence from the victory, but Kobe and his crew still has some work to do before they catch the Celtics. At 27-3, Boston is still two games ahead of the Lakers in the loss column in the race for homecourt advantage. The team with homecourt advantage should be favored to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The next game between the two NBA titans will be at TD Banknorth Arena in Boston where the Celtics thoroughly dominated the Lakers in four games last season. Should the Lakers pull off another victory over the Celtics, then maybe I’ll join in on the “Boston Sucks!” chants.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol need to put a body on Kevin Garnett (middle) and the rest of the Boston Celtics (GETTY IMAGES)

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