Boston off to its Best Start in 35 years

Only seven games into the 2007 NBA Season, two things are becoming abundantly clear: 1) the Celtics are very good and 2) the Eastern Conference once again is by and large garbage. The Celtics improved to 7-0 with a grimy 91-69 win over the Nets last night at the Garden. Its the Celtics best start in 35 years (they started 10-0 in the '72-'73 season) and the franchise's best start was 14-0 in '57-'58.

Common sense held that last night (the second night of a back-to-back) would be sloppy and the Nets would be a good team to face since they have a real lack of depth and scoring punch now that Vince Carter is out with a sprained ankle. The Nets led 23-17 after one quarter but you had a feeling that wouldn't last for long. The C's held them to 11 points in the second quarter and Paul Pierce hit a last-second jumper to put Boston up two heading into the break.

The second half was all about defense for the Celtics as they only gave up 35 points total. For the home team, six players found double-figures including all five starters. This was especially impressive since offensive spark plug Eddie House was out with a sprained ankle from the Pacers game. Kevin Garnett led the way with 16 points and 8 rebounds while Pierce (15 points), Ray Allen (14 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals), Rajon Rondo (13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) and Kendrick Perkins (10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks) all had solid games.

The story of the game was Tony Allen, who had 13 points in 24 minutes. He received a lot of House's minutes and played well. He's still recovering from a horrific knee injury last season (which happened just when he was playing the best basketball of his life) so he wears a huge knee brace. His main strength is that he's a great defender so if he can consistently contribute on the offensive side, the Celtics will be in great shape.

Boston shot 46.5% as a team and they forced 20 Nets turnovers (including 14 steals). The Nets shot a pitiful 33.3% as a team. They are pretty limited without Carter. Jason Kidd played well (19 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) and Richard Jefferson had 21 points but they have a bunch of bums taking up roster space.

The Celtics host struggling Miami (1-7) on Friday. Dwyane Wade came back last night for the Heat but they still lost to the Sonics, who had been winless. Shaq is only a shell of his former self and the Heat are light years away from the team that won the NBA Championship two seasons ago.