Still, we fret. We are damaged because of the Bruins. We are like the proverbial dog that has been kicked too many times. Every motion made in our direction causes us to recoil.
Do I have to remind anyone? The Bruins led the Flyers, 3-0. They let it get away in overtime in Game 4. Then the Bruins let the Flyers get some confidence. Then it got to Game 7, at home, and the Bruins led, 3-0. Then the Bruins lost and fans threw black-and-gold towels on the ice and spilled onto Causeway Street full of angst and anger.
It was simply impossible. In the words of Globe scribe Mike Vega, it was, “3-0, 3-0, uh-oh.’’
Now the Celtics. They led, 3-0. They let it get away, losing Game 4 in overtime. In Game 5 Wednesday in Orlando, they were spanked. When the game was finished, they had two guys with concussions, one who was ejected, and a few others hurting.
We wonder if this might be the sports god taking revenge for what the Red Sox did to the Yankees in 2004 — the 3-0 comeback to end all 3-0 comebacks. Is this Garden gag of 2010 some kind of macabre payback for the Biblical revival of the Idiotic gang, who shucked 86 years of hard-luck hardball?
Don’t go to that dark place, people. Not yet. The Celtics are going to win tonight. They have a healthy Big Three. They have Rajon Rondo ready to answer Jameer Nelson. They have Kendrick Perkins, granted a stay by the NBA’s behavior police.
The league yesterday ruled that Perkins did not deserve a technical foul when he was T’d up for the second time by Eddie F. Rush in the second quarter of Game 5. This means Perk gets to play tonight in Game 6 at the Garden.
It also means that the league has a problem. Trust me when I tell you I loathe postgame talk about officiating. It’s boring and fruitless. The Celtics did not lose Game 5 because of the refs. They lost because they allowed Orlando to make 13 of 25 threes. They gave up 31, 26, 27, and 29 points in the four quarters. They let the Magic shoot over 50 percent in every quarter.
