the stage is set for no. 18

A rollercoaster season if you're a Celts fan.

An NBA record 11th 60-win season. A franchise-best 18-game winning streak in November and December. Point guard Rajon Rondo's promotion to the rank of certifiable court general. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen bravely holding the fort. Eddie House setting the highest 3-point shooting percentage in team history.

Losing James Posey to free agency. A mercilessly mercurial bench. Dropping the season series to them rivals out West ... they-who-must-not-be-named.

Most of all, losing Kevin Garnett for the entire playoff run. The C's already lost him for 25% of the regular season. In his absence, they had a lower winning percentage and have allowed opponents six more points per game.

The Celts win more and defend better with KG. Period.

Boston Globe scribes Jackie MacMullan and Dan Shaughnessy have already written off the C's for the championship. They may be right.

I say on a torrid shooting night, my Celts can turn lights out on Eastern rivals Lebrick and his band of pretenders. So at least an Eastern Conference title may be in the offing.

But in Boston, EC titles are not what it's all about. And to be honest, without KG I'm not sure how the C's can hold their own against that team out West.

Throughout the 20-year championship drought, a dominant interior presence has always been the missing piece in Beantown.

With KG gone, it's almost automatic to revert the boys back to mortal status.

But the fight rages on. It's never a Celtic championship drive without that invincible dramatic flair. So ...

GO CELTS!