That has changed. The Celtics are demanding our attention.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's only three games. But what three games! First, there was that rousing opener against Washington. Then they hung tough to pull out an OT road win against the defending Atlantic Division champion Raptors. And Wednesday night we bore witness to an utter destruction of what will surely prove to be a good NBA team. It was a show the likes of which we haven't seen around here since You Know Who, You Know Who, You Know Who, and all the auxiliary You Know Whos were brightening up our winters back in the '80s.
After watching the Celtics blast their way to a 77-38 halftime lead over the Nuggets, I happened to run into a pair of certified Celtic Legends in the press room. You might be interested in what they had to say.
"I haven't seen anything like this around here for 20 years," said Bob Cousy. "That kind of poise and confidence on offense . . . they make as many passes as necessary."
"They're playing like the teams I played on," declared Tom Heinsohn. "They always pass to the right man. It's tough to beat a team like that."
'Tis often said that passing is contagious. Want proof? Even Kendrick Perkins had two assists, and this is a young man who's averaged fewer than an assist a game in his first three seasons combined.
The starting five played a Bird-era shell game with the basketball against the Nuggets, demonstrating great patience and understanding of the shot clock while calmly making the extra pass and then the extra-extra pass. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Perkins affixed 24 assists to their combined 38 baskets. All those You Know Whos would have been proud.
Understand, please, that they're not always going to shoot the way they did Wednesday night. Not until the score was 105-73 did they fall under 70 percent shooting for the game. Nobody's that good.
