At Last, the Eastern Conference Finals

And I'm actually very happy with the way the play-offs have worked out: these are four very good teams, all of whom I've supported over the years, and any one of which deserves to win it all provided they can defeat the others. First to eight, I believe the rules are now. Last night the Celtics made it to "1" -- which really proves nothing except that they've managed to hold court and everyone's had a chance to get reacquainted. What are the big issues in that series?

How close to 100% will Chauncey Billups be?

Pierce, Garnett, Allen -- have the "Big Three" become two minus zero, and how important will it be if the Celtics are to win it all for Allen to find his touch again? Or is this team really turning into Pierce plus Garnett, with a nice mix of veterans (Allen, Sam Cassell, PJ Brown) and youth (Rondo, Powe, Davis) that Danny Ainge has put around them? And will Doc Rivers be able to figure out how to use that talent in order to win seven more games from the three best teams in the league?

In any event, last night's game was so much less frustrating to watch than ANY of the Cleveland series, which had me questioning whether I really wanted to stay up late to watch any more of the playoffs myself at all. I feel already like it's going to be a bit of a slugfest -- which actually makes me feel a little sad. The defense is SO intense it's easy at moments to overlook it -- the challenged shots, the rotations, the rebounding...these guys don't rest for a second...and there are certainly plenty of hands out in the passing lanes on the kick-outs as well.

Still, I'm looking for Detroit to really amp-up the pressure on the Celtics in Game Two -- especially on their guards, where the Celts are frankly overmatched if Billups is Billups again. And I'm looking for Ray Allen to go on a little 10-0 run of his own to start the second quarter: maybe an open three in transition, a drive to the basket, a drive to the basket with foul shots, and another three from the corner after a drive and dish. 10 points in about 90 seconds, and nobody will be complaining about him being Missing in Action again. But his teammates have got to get him the ball, and he's got to be willing to shoot it. Portland to Waltham! Are you receiving me?