Who's afraid of the Big Bad Celtics?

NEW YORK -- Boston this Boston that...

Last night, the Celtics beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, 110-100. BUT...

It took a 38 point 4th quarter to do it. The Celtics can thank James Dolan the Knicks don't have a defense. Ray Allen fouled out half way through the final period. Up until the 4th, the Knicks gave Boston ALL it could handle! The Knicks... let me repeat that, the "we gave up 61 to Kobe and 52 to LeBron" Knicks gave the C's everything but the kitchen sink. The Knicks LED 76-72 after 3 quarters!

Goodness, how the mighty have struggled. All teams go through rough patches, no doubt. But how about the Celtics defense lately? 101 points to Minnesota, 99 to Philly (a game where they practically pulled a houdini act to win), 110 to the Lakers, and now 100 to NY.

Has the rest of the NBA figured them out???

Probably not. The fact is, the Celtics are operating with Kevin Garnett at half speed. His flu has clearly been affecting his play. It also doesn't help that he's been getting called for a lot of the physical moves he makes this week. Fascinating.

Secondly, the C's have been turning the ball over a lot. 15+ turnovers 3 games in a row, several of them late. Rondo really needs to clean it up. He's very good with assists, he's having a very good season, but he makes some of the stupidest decisions. Why would anyone give the ball to anyone besides Paul Pierce or Ray Allen towards the end of OT on Thursday? Things like that.

No need to panic, Celtics fans. It's a rough patch and they'll get through it, but it looks like teams have formulated a nasty, Trojan Horse game plan. Can Rivers make the adjustments? That... is what will make or break championships!!