Parquet Post 4-16-13

WRITTEN BY DANNY EMERMAN

Tonight, the Celtics were scheduled to take on the Indiana Pacers, a tough physical, grueling team who would have worn the C's down to the ground. That is if the Boston Celtics played their starters. But, as you know, because of the horrific, awful tragedy that occurred yesterday on Copley Street, the match was canceled and will not be made up, for both playoff teams are already set for their seeds.

Tomorrow is the last game of the season for the Boston Celtics. They will play the Toronto Raptors in Toronto. I doubt that Pierce and Garnett will play, but if they do, the C's will handily win that game. They are looking ahead to their first round series against the Knicks.

The New York Knicks, who have at times been one of the best 3 teams in the league, have so many question marks and asterisks it's unbelievable. To beat the Celtics (which I hope they don't but if I had to place money on it, they will) the Knickerbockers will probably not want Amar'e to play major minutes because it has just been proven that they are better without him. Also, the need Tyson Chandler to be at least 70% healthy to anchor down their defense. Also, J.R. Smith will have to hit some ridiculous shots against the bulldogs of Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee. Melo will get his 30 points off of 25 shots and Pierce will go berserk in MSG. That is a fact.

The X-Factor in this series is Jeff Green. He has proven to be a consistent 1 0n 1 defender and will probably guard Carmelo Anthony whenever they are both on the floor so the Celtics can give Pierce a rest. The question with Green is what we're going to see out of him offensively. He's the only player in the league who can go for 40 points in one game and the 8 points in the next.

Lately, the Celtics have been going with their "Big Roster" while starting Pierce at shooting guard and Green at Small Forward. This is good for the Knicks series because it will get Green covering Melo whenever Pierce needs a break and it will help the Celtics with their rebounding struggle.

DANNY EMERMAN NBA PLAYOFF THEORY:

Compare each team's depth chart side by side and try to assemble the greatest possible team by combining the players on the two teams. You must have roster spots for:

PG

SG

SF

PF

C

6TH MAN

Decide the roster spots by comparing each individual position matchup. Whichever team has more players on the super team that you assembled will win the series in real life. If each team has 3 players on the super team, the team with the best overall player in the series will win. If there is no definite best player, the team with the best coach will win.

To see more about the Danny Emerman theory, read my post about the Celtics vs Knicks Preview! Enjoy!