By late March, a sweep of the Texas Triangle was proof that not only were the Celtics favorites in the East, they also had to be considered contenders for the outright title.

The playoffs were hardly a breeze. First and second round wins over the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers were each stretched out to seven games. They provided more hold-your-breath moments than a heated game of Marco Polo.

While the early playoff struggles seemed to fuel doubters' arguments that Boston wasn't designed to be a championship team, the Celtics grew tighter.

Allen, Pierce and Garnett had never played in the finals and it simply took them a little time to learn how to win playoff games together.

The Detroit Pistons never really had a chance. And neither did the Los Angeles Lakers.

Everyone, including Jack Nicholson and the rest of professional sports' most fraudulent fan base, rooted for a renewed rivalry.

Yeah, not so much.