Suddenly getting carried away by "What if..."

Jordan Crawford, Jeff Green, and a lone Celtics fan celebrate Green's game winning three pointer in Miami
Five days ago the Celtics were 0-4.  They were last in ESPN's power rankings, and the early front runners in the "Wiggins Watch."  Now they are 3-4, just one game back of the Atlantic Division lead and the #2 spot in the Eastern Conference.  What if Kelly Olynyk is the right answer at starting center?  What if Jordan Crawford and Phil Pressey can continue to be an adequate point guard tandem in Rajon Rondo's absence?  What if Avery Bradley keeps knocking down open jumpers like he did last night?  What if Jeff Green actually does step into the role of late game scorer/clutch go to guy (make sure to take a good look at the two Heat fans in the photo to the left of Green; priceless)?
This week Boston plays Orlando, Charlotte, and Portland, all at home.  What if this winning streak extends to six games?  After that the C's have a brutal four game stretch through Minnesota, Houston, and San Antonio, then ending at home vs the undefeated Pacers.  But the following 11 contests include Atlanta, Charlotte again, Memphis at home (who they almost beat on the road), Cleveland, Milwaukee twice, Denver at home (who's 1-4 coming off a loss to Phoenix), and the Knicks (now 2-4) twice as well.  Not to mention the "revenge game" at the Garden vs Doc Rivers and the Clippers (which you know Brad Stevens and these guys would love to get more than anything), plus a visit to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in Brooklyn.

After what we saw in Miami yesterday, would a win in any of those games (with the exception of the Nets) really be all that surprising?  What if the Celtics pull off 5 victories in the bunch, and are 11-14 halfway through December?

Mid December is the targeted return time for one All-Star point guard.  What if the C's are on the edge of the playoff race when Rondo comes back?  Where can they go from there?


RELATED: Setting the over/under on wins for the 2013-2014 Boston Celtics


Follow Mark on twitter @LucidSportsFan

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