NBA At the Half

Originally Posted by King Glorious

If the Celtics lost Garnett, no, they wouldn't be favored to win the East. But with Pierce and Allen, I still think they'd win their division. If the Spurs lost Duncan, they could survive for a short period. They would have ZERO shot of winning their division, their conference or any league championships.

The point is that any assumptions that anyone makes are based on players staying healthy. I think it goes without saying that if you take major players off of any team, it completely changes the dynamics of things. Even look at the Pistons. As good and balanced as they are, if you take Rasheed Wallace or Chauncey Billups off of that team, they have no shot to beat the Celtics. So yeah, the Celtics are an injury away but then so is everyone else.

Even if the Celtics stay healthy, and that's a big if, they still have to get past Cleveland and/or Detroit. Two teams that have a nucleus that's been together for a few years.

I've maybe watched two NBA games this year so my opinion is probably a bad one...but historically teams that stack all-star players don't typically win a championship their first season together. I'm not convinced Garnett, Allen and Pierce have the mental toughness to battle a team like Detroit in a 7 game series.

I'll say Detroit in the East. Spurs/Jazz (depending on seed) in the west.