Remember when the Eastern Conference was the Celtics' for the taking, with sandy beaches, tiki bars, and gentle waves as far as the eye could see?
Well a tsunami is racing ashore and there's nowhere to hide.
The C's open the second round on Monday night against Philadelphia, and they're not favorites. What's left of their bedraggled roster suffered another blow when second-year guard Jaylen Brown strained his hamstring, leaving him doubtful for Game 1 and questionable for the series.
Already down Kyrie Irving and Daniel Theis -- not to mention Gordon Hayward -- the Celtics would be hard-pressed against any squad at this point in the playoffs. But the Sixers are a destroyer.
Philly has won 20 of its last 21 games, including a five-game dispatching of the Heat in the first round. The Sixers did much of that damage without big man Joel Embiid, who missed 10 games after smashing heads with rookie Markelle Fultz in late March.
Now Embiid is back and the Sixers are at full strength. The talent disparity is such that if the C's take this series beyond five games, it should be considered a victory.
Philly's talent level tops Boston's all over the floor. The Celtics will likely ask Al Horford to control Embiid and perhaps Giannis-stopper Semi Ojeleye to match up with surefire Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons, who's at the Young Magic Johnson stage of his career.
The Sixers are a bear to guard, with the 6-foot-10 Simmons attacking defenses off the dribble for dunks and floaters, the 7-foot Embiid scoring at all three levels, and a phalanx of shooters bombing away from 3, led by veteran J.J. Redick (.420), but also including Dario Saric (.393), Marco Belinelli (.385) and Robert Covington (.369). That's a lot of shooting to account for with the gifted and unselfish Simmons ready to pass over the top of any help defense that rolls his way.
So let's be realistic about this series: the undermanned Celtics are going to lose. Were Irving still healthy, it would be a different story. Alas, he's not. Such is life.
But whatever happens in the next 10 days isn't even the scary part. It's what follows for the next 10 years.
We've come to believe that the inevitable departure of LeBron James for points west will hand the East to the Celtics. Return next year with a healthy Irving and Hayward, add perhaps another lottery pick via the Kings in 2019 (not to mention the Grizzlies, potentially, in 2021), and book your annual passage to the Finals, where the Warriors will eventually cede their throne.
What we didn't anticipate was the rise of the Sixers, who are every bit as well-positioned as the Celtics to keep adding talent. Embiid and Simmons already represent the best 1-2 punch of sub-25 players on any roster, and 23-year-old Saric makes three.
More help is on the way. The Sixers will probably end up with the 11th pick from the Lakers, and more importantly, they have room to add a max contract this summer. Until King James announces he's headed to Los Angeles or Houston, the Sixers have to be considered by far the best fit for him in the East. Shudder.
NBA fans of a certain age need no reminder of what Celtics-Sixers used to mean. Bird vs. Dr. J. Kevin McHale vs. Barkley. DJ vs. Mo Cheeks. In the early 1980s, the two clubs took turns representing the East in the Finals, with the Celtics claiming three titles and the Sixers one.
Fans of an even certain-er age can recall Russell vs. Wilt and Hal Greer putting the ball in play and battles that almost always ended with the Celtics in the Finals during the dynasty years of the 1960s. In both cases, the rivalry ranked among the most heated in sports.
Now that rivalry has a chance to take center stage again, and not just right now, but for years to come. The problem for Celtics fans is the legitimate long-term threat Philly poses to the new world order we envisioned post-LeBron.
This series is only the start, and a lopsided one at that. Both clubs will presumably be at full strength in coming seasons, and what's alternatively terrifying and enthralling is we have no idea who's going to be better.
