HoopWatch

The Boston Celtics have been so far true to their hype. They have dominated the league as of this writing, and leads the NBA over-all. The big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have been all dominant. They are carrying the scoring load, and they are all hustling as well. Pierce has found a renewed spirit. They are all getting into the act accounting for more than 60-percent of the Celtics production.

But the real question lies on their health. How long can they really hold on? Most teams before who lost just a single player of a mighty triumvirate found it hard to bounce back. Magic Johnson and the Lakers had a hard time defeating the Celtics in the championship in 1979. Johnson had to be truly magical to accomplish that feat. And the rookie point guard proved to be the worthy center for that night, taking the place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Houston’s own version of Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon never won the title in the 1990’s. They were never truly complete, as one of the three got injured at significant points in those runs.

As Pierce and Allen are known to be perennial sideline residents, how long, once again, can Garnett hold the fort if one or both of his fellow co-superstars go down with an injury? It is even Garnett who got injured this time around. After-all, Boston’s supporting casts are not that dependable at all as of now. Not unlike the 90’s Bulls, where Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Randy Brown and even Jud Buechler held the fort in Scottie Pippen’s absence in 1998 NBA Title Run. Yes, they were led by Michael Jordan, but they were able to pull the Bulls to a 62-win season, the second-best for that year. Jordan could not have done it on his own.

KG is no Jordan. And he is not getting any younger. In his last season with the Timberwolves, “The Kid” went down with an injury as well. Rondo, Scott Pollard, Eddie House and Kendrick Perkins all have to dish out sterling performances. And they should all hope that injury prone stars Allen and Pierce will not be sidelined this season. (photo courtesy of yahoonba.com)