Spry Celtics not quite ready for rocking chair

On the brink of extinction at times this season, the Boston Celtics' big three dinosaurs - Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce - are making a surprise comeback for one more postseason run.

In theory, the NBA playoffs should be a four-horse race, with Chicago and Miami on a collision course in the East while San Antonio and Oklahoma City shoot it out in the West. Perhaps that's how the brackets will play out.

But it would be too predictable. If searching for one team more than capable of cracking the final four, go with a pick that's old and reliable.

"I think Boston is a really scary team," said SportsMemo.com handicapper Erin Rynning, who was asked if the Celtics can climb the ladder to the NBA Finals.

"It wouldn't surprise me a bit," he said. "It's kind of their last hurrah."

A season that almost never happened turned into a strange 66-game sprint that ended with Kobe Bryant turning down a chance to win the scoring title, a sign the end of the world might be near. How many surprises can the postseason deliver?

"I can't remember looking forward to the NBA playoffs quite this much," Cantor Gaming sports book director Mike Colbert said. "I think it's going to be more competitive than ever."

On the final night of a lockout-shortened regular season, the Heat's junior varsity lost by 34 points to the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Bobcats cemented their place as the worst team in league history by losing for the 23rd straight time.

We've seen too much bad basketball. Now, it gets really good. For the next two months, the stars not only will play every day, they will play hard on the defensive end.

Bulls point guard Derrick Rose looks stylish on the May cover of GQ magazine next to the subtitle, "How To Dress Like A Pro." The problem is Rose, because of an assortment of injuries, did not dress for 27 games this season.

According to Cantor's opening best-of-7 series prices, top-seeded Chicago (50-16) is a minus-1,000 favorite over Philadelphia in the first round, which begins Saturday. The 76ers, Rynning said, will offer only a "warmup" for the Bulls before they get a stress test.

"In this short season, which was a grind, I think coach (Tom) Thibodeau overworked his guys and burned them out," Rynning said. "The Bulls have to show they can recapture how they were playing in January. I'm not sold on the Bulls, and I'm not sold on the Heat. There are flaws with both of those teams.

"We have to see if the Heat can take a knockout punch and come back from that. This team has had a hard time scoring points, and they still resort to too much one-on-one play. Miami is a great bully team, but they continue to struggle against the best teams in the NBA."

The Heat are minus-500 favorites against the New York Knicks in the first round, and Rynning called the Knicks a "dangerous team" because Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler have no fear of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

"I don't like the Heat, and I don't think they will win the East. You never know what you're going to get with that Miami team," Colbert said. "The team that might surprise people will be the Pacers."

Indiana is a minus-400 favorite over Orlando, and it won't require a magic act to make a team without Dwight Howard disappear. Boston is minus-170 over Atlanta, which has homecourt advantage, and count on the Celtics to advance as long as Allen's bad ankle holds up.

Partly due to the mysteries looming after the lockout, no Las Vegas sports books posted regular-season win totals in December. But numbers were put up offshore at Pinnaclesports.com, and looking back, one of the biggest overachievers was the Spurs, who won 50 games to surpass their win total of 40½.

San Antonio, eliminated in last year's first round as a No. 1 seed, should sweep Utah. The other three series - Oklahoma City-Dallas, Los Angeles Lakers-Denver and L.A. Clippers-Memphis- promise to be far more competitive.

The major difference of opinion between Colbert and Rynning concerns the Lakers, minus-300 favorites over the Nuggets, and how far Bryant can carry them.

"I think the Lakers have no chance to win the West," Rynning said. "There are underlying big-time chemistry issues within that team, and I don't trust that team at all."

Colbert, who is rolling with the Thunder in the West, countered, "The Lakers have a legit shot."

The Spurs' Gregg Popovich is the league's top coach. Boston's Doc Rivers ranks in the top five. Both men were wise enough to rest their aging stars for the postseason, and both teams are led by great point guards in Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo.

"I was surprised by the play of Garnett down the stretch. He played at a high level, and he makes all the difference for the Celtics," Rynning said. "The playoffs are as wide open as I can remember. These bigger favorites could be more vulnerable than they have been in the past. We could see some upsets. It could be crazy."

Crazy would be spitting into the wind or counting out the Celtics as dinosaurs. But in the end, the winner from the East will get kicked around by the Spurs' old-timers.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts "The Las Vegas Sportsline" weekdays at 3 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM) and thelasvegassportsline.com.