I have attributed the post injury Celtic's success to Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee. Their defensive stats relative to opposing FG % and 3PT % are leading the NBA.

Unlike the first 40 games or so, Doc is using the bench more and it has been effective. When Garnett is sitting the bench now holds their own.

Green is basically playing starter minutes. He is shooting 50.7% in the last 18 games.He can take credit for a great deal of the second team's success.

Terry has improved and Doc's use of the zone has helped his defense. He is shooting 40.7% from 3 in the last 18 games.

It is difficult to get a statistical measure for Wilcox except for the fact that his minutes have been increasing. He has been playing "spirited" ball for the last few weeks and it is helping the bench win their matchups underneath.

Crawford is the next wild card. If he gets hot, he can be a major contributor to a win..

A common observation about the Celtic's bench...they run. Wilcox, Crawford, Terry and Green all "move without the ball" and instantly run and break out in transition. Their "sharing style" gets the ball to the open man very efficiently.

Bench match ups are not playoff deciders, but, a dominant bench performance can pressure the opposing starters to the point where they break. Nate and Big Baby pulled this off once themselves.

The Heat's recent rotations offer a bench of:

Battier

Cole

Allen

Andersen

They combine for about 32 points a game while Miami has lost twice since Jan 16th.

The Celtic's four benchers offer just about the same PPG, but, can they make a difference against Miami? If the Celtics get to the Heat, the games will be desperate defensive battles. James and Wade will be on the court for 40 minutes with every defensive option the Celtics have draped all over them. I suggest our bench will steal one game. Will it be enough?