Championships the Celtics could've won
Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 2:51 pm
This is by no means a reactionary post...this is just an attempt at some fun/lighthearted speculation. Something I've thought about for years are the titles the C's let "slip away." What happens in:
1959 if Russell doesn't severely sprain his ankle before game 7? (Russ sprained it in game 6, IIRC, letting the Hawks steal the game and then the next one)
1973 if Hondo doesn't dislocate his shooting shoulder in the ECF? (Remember, C's were far and away the best team that year and NY barely beat them with a one-armed Hondo)
1985 if Bird doesn't play the whole playoffs, including the Finals, with severe bursitis in his shooting elbow? (again, Bird was the MVP and at the top of his game that season before the injury at the end of the regular season)
1987 if McHale isn't playing on a broken foot? (again, he had an MVP-worthy season and gutted it out on a broken wheel)
1987 if Bird's corner 3 at the buzzer of game 4 goes in and ties the series? (If Bird takes that shot 100 times, it goes in 99 times...and if you watch the video, there's still no way it shouldn't have gone in, it was perfect)
either 1988 or 1990, I can't remember, when a bogus traveling call on McHale gives the ball back to Detroit at the end of the game, allowing them to win the game and the series (this still infuriates me to this day)
2010 if Perkins wasn't hurt, Artest hadn't cheap-shotted Ray in game 1, and if the reffing the last 4 minutes of game 7 had been the same as it had the first 44 minutes? (I don't need to get into this 8) )
A lot of what ifs, and no guarantees, but given their history, we could be potentially sitting on 23 or so titles instead of only 17. Still, we're still far ahead of 2nd place LA (11), 3rd place Chicago (6), 4th place Minneapolis (5), 5th place San Antonio (4), and the rest of the field
1959 if Russell doesn't severely sprain his ankle before game 7? (Russ sprained it in game 6, IIRC, letting the Hawks steal the game and then the next one)
1973 if Hondo doesn't dislocate his shooting shoulder in the ECF? (Remember, C's were far and away the best team that year and NY barely beat them with a one-armed Hondo)
1985 if Bird doesn't play the whole playoffs, including the Finals, with severe bursitis in his shooting elbow? (again, Bird was the MVP and at the top of his game that season before the injury at the end of the regular season)
1987 if McHale isn't playing on a broken foot? (again, he had an MVP-worthy season and gutted it out on a broken wheel)
1987 if Bird's corner 3 at the buzzer of game 4 goes in and ties the series? (If Bird takes that shot 100 times, it goes in 99 times...and if you watch the video, there's still no way it shouldn't have gone in, it was perfect)
either 1988 or 1990, I can't remember, when a bogus traveling call on McHale gives the ball back to Detroit at the end of the game, allowing them to win the game and the series (this still infuriates me to this day)
2010 if Perkins wasn't hurt, Artest hadn't cheap-shotted Ray in game 1, and if the reffing the last 4 minutes of game 7 had been the same as it had the first 44 minutes? (I don't need to get into this 8) )
A lot of what ifs, and no guarantees, but given their history, we could be potentially sitting on 23 or so titles instead of only 17. Still, we're still far ahead of 2nd place LA (11), 3rd place Chicago (6), 4th place Minneapolis (5), 5th place San Antonio (4), and the rest of the field
