[cleaveland]

They might want the no defense Knicks in the first round over a Philly team that plays them tough. It all makes sense now, after the Celtics took an 11-2 lead over Miami they really seemed to kind of give the game away.

I didn't see it beforehand but I would say there's no way the Knicks will be beat the Celtics (defense wins in the playoffs + it's four all stars and experienced winners v. two all stars) while I would have given Philly a shot v. the Celtics.

[rsnnh12]

As a Cs fan, I'm much more afraid of Philly than the Knickerbockers. Philly is very young, athletic, and well-coached. They play solid D and they have a fairly deep team. Knicks play no D whatsoever, but Melo/Stat/Chauncey are always dangerous. Containing at least 1 of those 3 each game should be enough to win in 5 though.

[8ArIvd5]

yep. every time a team goes up 11-2 early they win big. never seen a turnaround of that magnitude with that amount of time left.

[chantrain]

two things:

1) I wouldn't be surpised to learn that the C's have been "tanking" for a while now. Theyre not playing with 100% effort, that much is obvious
2) No way do the Celtics prefer the Knicks over the 76ers. Knicks play defense whenever they want to, and they have 3 play-off tested legit star players on their team. Nobody wants to see the Knicks in the first round