By The Numbers: Breaking Down the Celtics vs the Bulls

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

When I previewed the first-round Eastern Conference matchups, I picked the Celtics in five games, as if they were “just another No. 1 seed.” However, as Sean Grande points out, the Celtics own the worst scoring margin of any No. 1 seed since the NBA and ABA merged.

Boston climbed to the top spot after the Cleveland Cavaliers faltered in March and April, including four consecutive losses to end the regular season. The race for the top seed could either be described as the ‘tortoise and the hare,’ or simply no one wanting to have homecourt throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Well, either way, here we are in mid-April, and the Celtics are facing the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs for just the second time since 1987. If the 2009 first-round series is any indication, then we are in for a treat when these two teams tip off on Sunday evening at TD Garden.

Bob Lobel: Boston's Naughty and Nice Trades

 By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Now that Rajon Rondo is gone, I must tell you I have no clue as to who is currently wearing a Celtics uniform. 

I should be horribly embarrassed, but I am not. I could be way off base, but I don’t think I'm alone. Funny how some players you get attached to and like immediately, and then there is a guy like Rondo. It's weird how that happens, but it does. 

In this season of giving, let's consider the Rondo deal as a gift. Kinda like when Theo went to the Cubs, which now prompts me to say the deal he did for Lester will blow up in his face. It will not be the gift he thought it was. Kinda like Eric Gagne. 

One of the worst trades in recent memory pulled off by the Sox, and it was engineered by Theo. 

What To Make of these Boston Celtics

While mostly known for his beautiful hair, Kelly Olynyk has proven to not be terrible at basketball this year.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

For most of Wednesday, I was ready to entitle this article, “How About These Above-.500 Celtics.” Then, for most of Friday, I still could have used “How About These Celtics.” If the men in green would have finished off both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cava-LeBrons, then Celtics Nation would be pondering, “Maybe I want the Celtics to make the playoffs.”

Those two victories would have allowed Boston to match its longest winning streak in the Brad Stevens era. Coincidentally, it was King James and his Miami Heat that were a part of the Celtics’ four-game winning streak in early November last year. If the 2014-15 team matched the streak, all the Celtics talk would be positive: it would be about Kelly Olynyk putting up among the league’s best offensive numbers and Rajon Rondo passing Paul Pierce for the fourth-most assists in franchise history.

Love, Cookies, and The Celtics

When will the Celtics find their next banner?

By Shaun Whalen (@TheSPFW)

I am young(ish), broke, don’t have a girlfriend, and am entering my first year as a season ticket holder for a Boston Celtics team that can best be described as “feisty”, “defensive minded”, and “at least they’re not the Sixers.”

I bought the tickets on as much of a whim as you can when you spend that much money. Caught in the rally of optimism that Danny Ainge would find a way to lure Kevin Love to The Bean, my soon-to-be roommate (who doubles as a Lucky the Leprechaun doppelganger) and I decided to buy the tickets “as an investment”. This decision took less than thirty minutes from inception to him piling the cost on his credit card and stealing all the reward points that came with that exorbitant figure. It helped the ticket rep we both spoke to “sounded REALLY hot.”  (She is, by the way.)

Needless to say, KLove didn’t find his way to Boston. And when he does finally make it to play the Celts, Lucky and I have decided to sell those tickets because we are just so broke. His girlfriend—to her credit—has maintained decorum and not yelled at us for this investment. She will undoubtedly make her way to a game or four, continually yell at Kelly Olynyk for his MMBop hair, and generally put up with our basketball nonsense.

But why?

Milestones Within Reach of the 2014-15 Boston Celtics

Current Celtic Brandon Bass and former Boston great Paul Pierce are each chasing milestones this season.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The 2014-15 NBA season begins for the Boston Celtics tonight as we head into the second, and unfortunately most likely not the last, year of the their below-.500 project. The Celtics have lost more than 55 games just three times ever, and one of those dreadful seasons came last year when they went 25-57, with Brandon Bass leading the team in win shares.

Unsurprisingly, he put up the third-lowest win-share total for a single-season leader in Celtics history. To add insult to injury, Jeff Green’s 16.9 points per game were the lowest for a Celtics’ leading scorer since Dee Brown’s 15.5 in 1993-94.

The Celtics, The Draft Lottery, And Time Loops

The Celtics are re-building around Rajon Rondo. But what if they change their plans?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

"Time is a flat circle. Everything we've ever done or will do, we're going to do over again." -Nietzsche

In 2007, the Boston Celtics finished 24-58, the second-worst record in the league. Waiting for them in the draft that summer were Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, widely considered to be among the best 1-2 in any draft in over a decade. The Celtics had roughly a 39 percent chance at a top-two pick (which seems ridiculous, considering they had the 2nd-worst record, but that's beside the point). We all know what happened. Three teams (Portland, Seattle, and Atlanta) jumped Memphis (who had the worst record) into the top three, and Boston was left with the 5th pick.

The Celtics at the time had a rather disgruntled star in Paul Pierce. The Celtics had made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002, but hadn't had nearly as much success since - they're playoff record over the next five years was 7-14, and they missed the playoffs in both 2006 and 2007. Pierce would turn 30 during the 2007-2008 season, so the Celtics decided a full-scale rebuild wasn't an option - by the time their young players were ready, Pierce would be too old to carry them. So instead of building for the future, they flipped the pick to Seattle for Ray Allen. A few weeks later, they traded their youngest, most valuable asset (Al Jefferson, who averaged a 16/11 in 2007) for Kevin Garnett. They had their "big three" and the rest, as they say, is history.

Four Things That Might Happen At The NBA Trade Deadline

NBA GM's will be by the phone Thursday, but will anyone big get moved?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

The NBA Trade Deadline is TODAY, Thursday, at 3 p.m. Here are a few things that might happen:

1. The Knicks trade Iman Shumpert and Ray Felton for Darren Collison and Reggie Bullock (or Matt Barnes)

This one seems probable, and fair for both sides. The money doesn't work out unless the Clippers agree to fit Shumpert's contract into the trade exception they got out of the Eric Bledsoe trade this summer, otherwise they'd have to throw in Willie Green.