The Celtics once again exceeded expectations and beat both the Spurs and Rockets to begin a brutal West coast trip. Here are some assorted thoughts from the last week or so.

De-Fense

As usual, the secret to the Celtics’ success has been defense. Tracy McGrady was impressed. “I’ve never seen defense like that. If they play defense like that night in and night out, then the NBA is in trouble because that defense was at its finest.” (Boston Globe)

Most of the credit has gone to Kevin Garnett, but don’t overlook the man with the plan, Assistant Coach Tom Thibodeau. Doc has given him free reign on the defensive side of the ball and the players have all bought in to the system and the team concept. Tom’s contract is up at the end of the year, and we can only hope that he doesn’t get a head coaching position somewhere. I’d like to see him patrolling the sidelines in Boston for quite some time.

March Madness?