Scott Souza

The Celtics have reached a crossroads as a legitimate championship contender.

Boston is a good team this season. An above-average team. A playoff team.

But, as Paul Pierce often says, they don’t hang Atlantic Division championship banners from the rafters. It is legitimate to question at this point whether this Celtics team is any better than a division champion that will be home in more than enough time to man the grill at the Memorial Day cookouts.

It’s not that the Celtics don’t win, it’s they have a hard time beating anybody good other than, for whatever reason, Portland and Toronto. Or the Lakers, when Kobe Bryant doesn't play. They struggle to beat bad teams at home. Their 10-point leads in the second half are about as meaningful as a Brett Favre retirement announcement.

It’s gotten to the point where any time the Celtics take a double-digit lead, fans are already plugging their ears in anticipation of hearing the other shoe drop. Was there anyone in the 18,624 strong at the TD Garden on Thursday who thought the gap was safe against the Cavaliers? It was like a suspense movie where you always kind of knew who the bad guy was all along and were just waiting for him to reveal himself in the final minutes.

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The tension was rattling around in a pressure cooker poised to explode. All it needed was a spark.

Eddie House provided the spark.

It was early in the afternoon on Sunday, May 18, 2008. Just your average, ho-hum, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Celtics and Cavaliers. Homecourt had meant everything in that series, and that homecourt would soon live up to the highest expectations of every Celtic fan in what remains the greatest game ever played in the new Garden.

But before the duel between Paul Pierce and LeBron James that became Ali-Frazier in hightops, there was the nervous excitement from 18,624 fans suddenly told that the team with the best record in the NBA was the underdog against King James in a one-game knockout scenario.

They were looking for a reason to believe. They were looking for a reason to erupt. Then came a loose ball in the backcourt with old friend Wally Szczerbiak in chase. Then from behind came House, who raced past Szczerbiak in a blur and saved the possession to the delirious delight of the crowd.

Minutes later, the pressure cooker shook violently on the burner as a feisty scrum turned into a war of words between House and another old friend in Delonte West. As the combatants were sent to their respective corners, the chant rose up from the club seats all the way to the far reaches of Section 305 in the balcony. It began low, and soon roared.

“Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!”

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By Scott Souza

SPECIAL TO CELTICS STUFF LIVE

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said this week that his criteria for making a deadline trade are simple enough.

Any deal must strengthen the Celtics for a championship run this spring, must make them better going forward, and must not hamstring the organization with bad contracts down the line.

It’s sort of like wanting your cake, wanting to eat it too, and wanting it served to you by Gossip Girls Blake Lively and Leighton Meester.

While in their underwear.

Well, when you put it that way …

While the demands are typical for executives, like Ainge, who prefer to keep cards close to the vest, they are often code for: “Don’t expect much.”

Still, the C’s personnel boss can’t seem to get away from the rumors that keep his cell phone buzzing for comment at all hours. For a guy who has continually expressed such disdain for such rampant speculation, Ainge sure does find himself in the middle of a lot of these.

Anyway, the juiciest rumor of the trade season so far involved a Yahoo! report that the Celtics were discussing sending Ray Allen – or specifically his $19.7 million expiring contract – along with Brian Scalabrine and J.R. Giddens (also expiring deals) to the Wizards for Antawn Jamsion and Caron Butler.

More after the jump...

Sometime in the next few days, Celtics coach Doc Rivers should finally have the entire team together he and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge assembled at the end of the summer.

The hovering question is: Will it be enough?