FanNation

   Perhaps it came too easy...clinching the NBA's best record with two weeks left, resting the regulars, and winning the first two playoff games on autopilot.

   Wa-aaaaa-aaaaa-A-A-aaaake up, Celtics - you're life or death with a jobber team you've allowed to believe has a chance of beating you. You better respond tomorrow the way the Pistons did tonight against Philly in a similar situation.

   One Atlanta victory, we can understand. The Hawks should be allowed one big effort, and the Celts one flat night. But tied 2-2?

   Where was the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter? Sure, Joe Johnson got hot and burned his old club again, but I'm still looking for somebody's hand in his face, or somebody to take a charge.

   And where was the offensive drive? This is Josh Smith, not Wilt Chamberlain. Too many blown layups, too much settling for bad shots. You won 66 games by imposing your will on people, not by getting lazy in the kind of jumping arena you've been shutting up all year.

   Finally, you should be self-motivated, and not require a punk like Zaza Pachulia to jumpstart you after getting 10 points behind. Yes, he should've been ejected for the head butt on Kevin Garnett, but you can't depend on the officials to do the right thing in the madhouse that was Philips Arena.

   And finally, what is up with David Stern dropping the $25,000 fine on Paul Pierce for the alleged Bloods sign in Game 3 after Al Horford woofed in his face (and didn't get a technical)? Maybe Pierce does know his way around the Gs (he grew up in LA, and were he not wearing a leather jacket, might not be with us today after being stabbed in a Boston club a few years ago), but how much time has Stern spent in East LA or the Bed-Stuy? Dave, may your daughter greet you with the shocker tomorrow morning.

   But then again, the time to cry over spilled 40s is over. Fellas, if you have any pals on the Patriots, talk to them tomorrow. You'll find out what infamy feels like, how wasting a great regular season feels. This team did not belong in the same building with you in the regular season.

   When you let them believe they do at playoff time, strange things happen, all of them bad.