After Game Two, the Boston Celtics were given up for dead by most, expected to lose to the Miami Heat in short order.
My oh my, how things have changed.
Boston is now one win away from the NBA Finals, potentially the third trip for this core and easily the most unlikely. However, a gutty 94-90 Game 5 victory in the Eastern Conference Finals has people talking about it as a real possibility.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com shares his feelings on the matter:
James and Wade are back at the brink of falling short from achieving their title promise again after the Celtics won their third straight Eastern Conference finals game, 94-90. It's so tempting to train the blame revolver at them and coach Erik Spoelstra for a series that has completely gone off the rails. But that wouldn't be fair to the team that's ahead.
The Celtics have clearly been the better team since a Game 1 loss, which they played less than 48 hours after their previous series ended. Given time to collect themselves and prepare their game plan, the veteran group has completely outclassed the Heat and sent the message that the dagger Miami thought it dropped last year was not a fatal blow.
It will be fascinating to see how LeBron James and Dwyane Wade respond to this challenge. Do they rise up and meet it head on or falter, once again failing to leave up to their potential?
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