The East Makes Its Playoffs Comeback

For me, it’s not really All-Star Weekend until Kenny Smith exclaims, “The dunk contest is back!” Similarly, at least twice during game two of Celtics/Pistons, I stood up and shouted, “The 2007-08 Eastern Conference playoffs are back!”↵
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↵After a month of mediocrity -- my Hawks dream ultimately had to die, LeBron never saved the world, Dwight Howard’s first round was a mirage, and the Celtics just pissed me off -- we got a night of basketball that actually kept me wide awake and convinced I was watching something important. Yes, that was Garnett, Allen and Pierce running wild like I’d dreamed they would when that line-up first formed. Hard-nosed defense that didn’t stop the pulse. No need to prop up brute, plodding play with Mark Jackson’s “playoff basketball” exhortations. Physical, chippy basketball that also featured its share of fluid, imaginative scoring. Bravery through skill.↵
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↵So for now, let’s not worry about if the Celtics are now out of the hunt. They lost that game, but in my world, that was a tremendous moral victory. Ray Allen, feeling good and Rondo messing around and almost getting a triple-double. If Boston has to lose to make me happy, then damn it, I wish Detroit well in the Finals.↵
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↵And speaking of Detroit, praise heaven for Rodney Stuckey. I’ve been expecting something like that from him since he came back from injury and cracked the rotation. And while he’s been sturdy, solid, whatever, so far -- that game against Orlando opened a lot of eyes -- this was the Stuckey I knew was out there all along. Dude is so very for real, and, ironically, was selected with a pick Dumars for in the deal for Darko. And maybe I’m unjustifiably smitten with the Stuck, but wouldn’t the Pistons rather have him than Melo right now?↵