Steve Buckley (Herald) has a message for us.
The point? People need to get a grip. To be more precise, people who did not follow the Celtics in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s need to get a grip. It used to be that Celtics fans understood the ebb and flow of a postseason, that playing the same team seven times in two weeks is not the same as playing a team in November and then saying, "Have a Merry Christmas," as you exit the arena.
Had the Celtics gone into The Palace of Auburn Hills and lost Saturday night’s Game 3 and then emerged with a spirited victory in Game 4, everyone around here would be delirious. That the Celtics did it the other way around, and that many of our fellow citizens are concerned about this, boggles the mind. Either way, it comes down to this: The Celtics host the Pistons tonight at the Garden in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, with each team having won two games. And this is exactly what we all expected. Yes? No? Hello?
You've got a point Steve, but you greybeards will have to forgive us our bi-polar type tendencies. Some of us youngsters remember the 80's, but all of us remember 2002, 2003, 2004, and especially 2005. All of us witnessed the Celtics play down to the Hawks level for 7 games in the first round. All of us were witnesses to the biggest game of Paul Pierce's life, which was just barely enough to get past the Cavs. All of us have seen this team play like champions one game and chumps the next.
Do we need to get a grip? Perhaps. Does this team need to stop toying with our emotions and put an opponent away for once? Absolutely.