Nuggets Mine Gold Against Celtics For 97-90 Win

I'm going to spare Commissioner David Stern and the NBA the trouble of trying to wrangle a couple of marquee teams (read: Miami, Oklahoma City) into the Finals.

Here's my suggestion: just have the Celtics and Nuggets play a seven-game series and crown the winner. It will be an entertaining, high-octane affair that basketball purists everywhere can enjoy.

Seriously, though...it was another good one between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets with only the final outcome providing the dark cloud to this otherwise sunny display.

Yes, the Celtics dropped the game this time (last time, the two teams combined  for 232 points in a triple-overtime barn-burner with the Celtics putting the hammer down at the end for the win), but it was an entertaining loss (if a Celtic fan can actually say that with a straight face).

So, here's what I'm gonna say, and then I'm throwing it to the box score...

All this ludicrous talk about trading Bass and Green or Pierce for Josh Smith...trading Garnett for Bledsoe and Butler or Bledsoe and Jordan...just look at the box score, people. There is NOTHING that those folks are going to do for this team this year and with a couple of them, there may be nothing that they ultimately do for this team to win a championship later, either. Yes, a team with Rondo, Jordan, Bledsoe, Bradley, Sullinger, Smith, Terry, Lee, Barbosa, Melo (and whomever would be left from whatever trade would happen) sounds promising on paper. But, before we go crowning paper champions, let's just think about the team that was highly predicted by many to play for the Championship this year ON PAPER: the Los Angeles Lakers.

So, how did our trade bait do tonight?

Garnett: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Pierce: 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Green: 20 points with 2-4 shooting on threes and 2 blocks.

Bass: 6 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

And, what the Hell...since they've also been mentioned...

Bradley: 17 points and Lee: 15 points.

Smith? Bledsoe? Jordan? In the words of Tommy Heinsohn himself: "Gimmie a break!!!"

Box Score

Tale Of The Tape