Today is clearly the high water mark of the Celtics season so far. For the first time all year they sit alone atop the Atlantic Division, and last night in Minnesota they played maybe their most complete yet. Boston jumped out to an early lead, held it throughout, and then put the Timberwolves away by outscoring them 21-12 in the 4th quarter, while allowing just one point in the final five plus minutes. Old man Kevin Garnett out dueled his much younger counterpart Kevin Love (who's been so good lately that he's forced his name into the MVP conversation), and Rajon Rondo continued to play as if he's suddenly determined to lead the league in assists. Rondo's 17 dimes last night brought his season average up to 11 per game (just behind Steve Nash's 11.2), and marked the 12th straight in which he's had 10 or more.
The Celtics went undefeated at home in the month of March (6-0), and are now 14-5 since the All-Star break. It's the 2nd best record in the league over that span, which is particularly impressive considering it included an 8 game road trip. They're about to begin an even tougher stretch of games, starting tomorrow when Miami comes to town. The Heat have actually played worse of late (10-6 after the break) than the C's, and if Boston can somehow pull this one out, all the talk Monday morning will be about the Celtics once again being considered a legitimate contender.
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