Charles Barkley thinks the Boston Celtics could knock off the Miami Heat

 The Orlando Sentinel posted an article that recaps a conference call on Tuesday, where TNT's analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Reggie Miller felt as though the Boston Celtics possess the tools to defeat the Miami Heat in the East.

Said Barkley:

"LeBron covers up a lot of weaknesses because he's so physically amazing, but Boston to me has a legit chance of beating them."

"I think the Miami-Boston series to me is a toss-up. Boston has great depth, they have great size in [Jared] Sullinger and Fab Melo in the draft. I think the most underrated player in the NBA is Jeff Green. I know he didn't play last year, I loved him in Oklahoma City. When he got to Boston he went late into the year so he really never got comfortable. I think he is going to be fantastic."

"The Celtics got an older Kevin Garnett and a Paul Pierce. They brought in all these younger guys to bring in energy and take the load off of Garnett and Paul Pierce and the Knicks brought in a bunch of old geezers," Barkley said. "Listen, I'm a big Marcus Camby fan and Jason Kidd is one of my favorite players, but they're not going to be able to keep up in a seven game series with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or playing against the Celtics in a seven game series. Not even the 76ers and I love what the 76ers have done or the Brooklyn Nets. Those old guys are not gonna be able to compete with those young guys when those games come every other day." 

Also of note, a poll at the bottom of the article asks viewers whether Boston can knock off Miami, and currently 87% say yes. Remember that this is a Florida based newspaper (albeit in Orlando and not Miami), but it's not a Boston-based audience for the most part.

Follow DH on Twitter @dhobeika. Thanks to Laki from the shoutbox for sharing the article.