With seven All-Stars and six potential Hall of Famers, the Boston Celtics/Miami East Eastern Semifinal NBA matchup is the most star studded in terms of individual talent in a playoff series since the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers-Los Angeles Lakes final (the year of Mo Malone's "fo-fo-and fo")
The Heat dominated the Celtics in Game One Sunday afternoon (where surprise, surprise, Heat fans appeared to be all in their seats at tip-off), with Dwyane Wade firing up 38 points, LeBron James playing an overall solid game, and James Jones giving a big boost on the bench.
The Celtics were favored going into this series, but I believe the Heat will take it – and I felt that before Sunday. I felt that after seeing the Heat beat the Celtics badly on the last Sunday of the regular season last month. True, the Celts had taken the first three games of the series, but in that last game in April, Boston looked old. That's because they are, but they're also so good, and so well coached, that they can compensate for that.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2011.