Celtics are deeper than most give them credit for

For good reason, the Oklahoma City Thunder entered this season as one of the NBA's most hyped teams. With Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, they have the best young nucleus in the NBA and they play a fun, up-tempo style that will provide much excitement in a podunk city.

The Boston Celtics began a four-game road trip last night at the Ford Center and they showed why they are still one of the top teams in the league - with defense and a much deeper bench - in a 92-83 win.

Green was out with an ankle injury but Durant (game-high 34 points, 6 rebounds) and Westbrook (16 points, 10 assists) put up some numbers. The problem for the Thunder (3-3) was that they don't have much beyond those three young studs. Nenad Kristic added 13 points and Serge Ibaka (8 points, 11 rebounds) did his energy thing but that's about it.

Ray Allen led the Celtics (6-1) with 19 points, Paul Pierce had 17 and Rajon Rondo notched 10 points and 10 assists. Kevin Garnett (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Jermaine O'Neal (9 rebounds, 2 blocks) also made some plays.

For the first time this young season, the Celtics' bench completely dominated the opposition to the tune of 33-12 and that was without Delonte West. Nate Robinson and Semih Erden both scored nine points, Glen Davis had eight points and Marquis Daniels added seven points.

Boston led 28-21 after the first quarter and 58-37 at the half thanks to a running, one-handed 3-pointer by Robinson at the halftime buzzer.

Oklahoma City woke up in the third quarter, thanks to Westbrook's nine straight points, and were down 73-64 entering the fourth quarter.

Things got a little scary since the Cs 22-point lead was down to six after James Harden's 3-pointer but defensive stops and big shots by Davis (three foul line jumpers in a row) allowed Boston to hold on (19-19 in the fourth).

They will definitely need a good performance from the bench tonight as they go to Dallas to meet the Mavericks.

On a side note, I decided last week to DVR all Celtics and Bruins games this season since I think they both have a chance to be really good and I don't want to miss anything that you can't find in highlights and game stories. It's the best decision I've made in a long time, both of these teams are very enjoyable to watch and the hometown announcers on Comcast Sportsnet and NESN are some of the best around.

Forget Kobe and LeBron, I'll take Durant

Forget Kobe's drama and LeBron's lame theatrics, I'll take Kevin Durant, a cold-blooded scorer for one of the NBA's real up and coming teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant came to the TD Garden last night and dropped 37 points on the Celtics (47-27) in a 109-104 win by the Thunder (46-28).

Imagine if the Thunder were in the Eastern Conference, they'd be a legitimate threat. In the more competitive Western Conference, they probably won't have home court and they'll be fighting an uphill battle.

No worries though, with a Big Three of Durant (15 for 15 from the line, 8 rebounds), Russell Westbrook (21 points, 10 assists) and Jeff Green (17 points), Oklahoma City has the best young nucleus in the association.

With all the ties between Durant and Celtics, who thought they were going to get him in the 2008 draft, there were endless story lines from last night.

Bottom line, Kevin Garnett (18 points, 9 rebounds), Paul Pierce (15 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and Ray Allen (13 points) are probably about to embark on their last playoff season together while Durant, Westbrook and Green are taking their franchise to a new place.

It was a great back and forth game as the Celtics shot lights out (59.5%) but still lost because they couldn't get any stops. Green hit two clutch 3-pointers and Durant got some superstar calls and made the most of them by converting every time at the line.

Rajon Rondo (16 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) and Rasheed Wallace (18 points in maybe his best game of the season) were awesome and Glen Davis gave the Celts some good minutes off the bench with 10 points.

The free throw line was the difference as Oklahoma City was 28 of 34 and Boston was 13 of 17. The Thunder were up 30-23 after the first quarter but the C's used their best quarter of the season (38 points) to take a 61-57 halftime lead.

Oklahoma City took over in the second half and outscored the home team 53-42.

The C's host the Rockets tomorrow night.

Apparently the Bombers was too politically incorrect

You can have your Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, don't forget the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs while you're at it. I'll take the 2008-2009 Boston Celtics over any of these other overrated teams. I don't smoke crack so believe me when I say that this team is better than last year's championship squad. Whatttttttttt?

It's true, the C's probably won't pile up such a ridiculous regular season record but at the same time, they also will be better suited to cruise through the first couple rounds of the playoffs. ESPN and most other mainstream media doesn't care about teamwork, defense or selfless play but those staples of the Celtics are some of the biggest reasons why they should be favored to repeat.

It was fitting on a night around the NBA like last night (when Tony Parker scored 55, Amare Stoudemire dropped 49 and LeBron hung 41) that the Celtics (4-1) coolly dismantled the host Thunder (1-3), 96-83.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say no Celtics player will reach any of those marks in a single game this season. It's not for lack of talent as Paul Pierce, KG and maybe (once in a blue moon) Ray Allen could put up such totals.

Boston wrapped up its short road trip, 2-1. Aside from Saturday's no-show against the Pacers, the Green beat another supposed contender in Houston and took care of business against the very young and inexperienced Thunder.

Pierce led the way with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Ray Allen had his second strong game in a row: 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. KG had his usual 17 points and eight rebounds.

Another reason why the C's should be even better is the continued improvement of Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo, the other two starters. Perk had 10 points, nine boards and four blocks while Rondo dished out 11 assists. Leon Powe continued to solidify himself as the sixth man of the team with 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Tony Allen scored eight points and Eddie House added seven.

In its first year in Oklahoma City (from Seattle), the Thunder will continue to take their lumps but they have a very promising threesome: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. Durant scored a team-high 17 points, Green had 14 points and six rebounds while Westbrook notched 13 points.

However, starting Nick Collison, Johan Petro and Earl Watson-as Oklahoma City did last night-is never a good sign.

The Thunder jumped out to a 29-21 lead after the first quarter but the Celts doubled them up in the second (30-15) to take a 51-44 lead at the half. Boston's defense (and the Thunder's terrible shot selection) meant Oklahoma City only managed 11 points in the third quarter while Boston scored 19.

Oklahoma City outscored Boston, 29-28 in the fourth but Doc Rivers was able to rest the Big Three after two nights in a row of solid effort.

The C's shot 43.4% to the Thunder's 36.9%. The other two stats that jump out in Boston's favor were assists (25-15) and steals (10-5).

Boston next hosts the new-look Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow night at the Garden.

Luck of the Irish? Not so much

I had meant to write a little draft preview going into tonight's NBA lottery but I forgot/didn't want to jinx the Celtics chances. Well, as we can all see by now, the Celtics are completely screwed. For the second half of this past terrible season, Celtics fans were banking on finishing with one of the worst records (second-worst, check) so that they would have the best shot of landing either Kevin Durant-forward from Texas or Greg Oden-center from Ohio State. As both were eliminated from March Madness and cryptically declared for the draft, things seemed to be turning up the C's way. The Boston Globe the last few days bombarded readers with the odds of the Celtics getting picks 1-5(the worst possible spot they could get). So what happened? As I waited anxiously for the cards to be drawn in beautiful Secaucus, NJ (the NBA bunker's headquarters), the NBA hit Boston with a low blow: the fifth pick.

I was in seventh grade when the Tim Duncan fiasco occurred (the Celtics had two lottery picks, a 44% chance to get no. 1 and only ended up with #3 and #6) so while I have memorized all of its key elements after the fact, I didn't really pay too much attention to it at the time. Durant-Oden is my initiation into Celtics fan hell. I can't say I'm a die-hard Celtics fan-who can these days?-since the only real above average squad in my formative years was the 2001-2002 version led by Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers. They were up 2-1 in the East Finals on the Nets after having the greatest fourth quarter comeback in playoff history and then they proceeded to lose their next three. Thereby eliminating the possibility of a Lakers-Celtics Finals reunion (a 80's rivalry for the ages). Since then, the Celtics have gotten progressively younger and worse. Not to mention the fact that the NBA is pretty terrible as a whole. Too many games, dead crowds, all one-on-one play, music during play and uninspired players would be the initial gripes off the top of my head. This was supposed to be the night that turned the franchise around.

I love college basketball-my favorite sport (ie. I can watch any game, any time)-and watching Durant and Oden to a lesser degree was a privilege and an honor this year. They both have incredible games, upside, demeanor, etc. They will both be All-Stars for years to come, they transcend the sport. People that know little about baskeball already know these two. For practical purposes, Oden would have been a better fit since the Celtics biggest weakness is interior defense. His offensive game is still developing but he can already play low-post d with the best of them. And Durant is just a player. He can fill it up like few I've seen yet he's unselfish and can do pretty much everything else on the court.

I go to multiple Celtics games a year but lately it's just gotten pathetic. They have talent (Pierce) and budding stars (Jefferson) but they're so young (Gerald Green) and have made so many bad moves (signing Scalabrine to a $30 million dollar deal; trading the pick that ended up being Brandon Roy for Sebastian Telfair) not to mention the fact that Danny Ainge is utterly incompetent. And Doc Rivers? The jury is still out on him. Good guy for the media and no one could have done much with the borderline NBDL team they had in the late part of the season but still, he has never consistently won in the NBA. As terrible as the Celtics are, a healthy and motivated Pierce, Jefferson + Durant or Oden would have made them a playoff team in the East. Don't believe me? Did you see the Nets in the playoffs? They won a series. And the Cavs are in the East Finals, anything is possible in this joke Conference.

I won't play the woe is me card, I'll leave that to Bill Simmons. While the Celtics past 20 years have been horrific, Boston as a sports city has nothing to complain about with the Patriots and Red Sox outstanding play in the last six years. All we wanted was for the Celtics to be relevant again. I've heard the stories, seen some of the games and vaguely remember the final days of the Garden. It's clearer now than ever that those times are gone forever and it's best just to move on with our sporting lives. With the Suns controversial exit last week in the playoffs and this latest setback for the Celtics, the NBA continues to slide in my eyes.