Also, there have been some terrific columns penned about Celtics-Heat recently. Just as players raise their play for the postseason, so do NBA writers. Without further ado, some of the best work around the blogosphere:

Zach Lowe, Sports Illustrated – “It’s easy to say lots of role players need to ‘step up.’ Jeff Green has to play much better than he has since the deal, and he’s going to have chances to defend LeBron James. Delonte West has to be helpful. One of these guys might swing a key run that can in turn swing a game. But among Boston bench players, it’s Davis that must be consistent, because it’s Davis alone among that crew that is going to play heavy minutes.”

Jackie MacMullan, ESPN – “‘I don’t want to make excuses, but my body wasn’t right,’ Rondo said. ‘It wasn’t responding the way it always had. My game is speed, energy, and now you get a tweak in your ankle and that slows you down. My hands started hurting. It was almost like arthritis. Any little hit and they would just throb and throb. Then I had the plantar fasciitis, and that wouldn’t go away, so you had all these nagging things that added up. I tried to play through it. Some days I did better than others.’ His coach, his general manager and his teammates tried to coax him back on track. They all told him the same thing: When you push the ball, you are better and the team is better. Kendrick Perkins, his best friend who was traded to Oklahoma City in February, urged him to rediscover his passion for the game. Rondo countered the game wasn’t fun for the first time in his life. ‘The main thing was we were losing,’ Rondo said. ‘And I felt the reason we were losing was because of me. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I wanted to finish the season well. That was the biggest concern for me, to find a way to get better, because we weren’t playing well, or moving the ball, and that was on me.’ ”

Tom King, MassLive – “Despite its success in the open court, the Heat don’t run all that much. In fact, they play at the 10th slowest pace, while the Celtics play at the league’s seventh slowest pace. Another key to the series will be how often the Heat are able to get out on the fast break. Boston is the fourth best transition defense, but it also turns the ball over on 14.49% of its offensive possessions, third-worst in the NBA. If the Celtics continue to turn the ball over at such a high rate (highest in the playoffs), the Heat will make them pay in transition.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “While the Heat didn’t come close to the 70-win domination some predicted, they are in the words of Celtics president Danny Ainge, ‘scary,’ as he told the Big Show on Thursday. ‘First you have to stop them in transition,’ Ainge said. ‘You have to prevent LeBron and [Dwyane] Wade from getting to the rim in the halfcourt and in transition and then you have to stop their 3-point shooting with [James] Jones and [Eddie] House and Bibby. And then you have to keep them off the glass. That combination is scary and is difficult to defend. The Celtics are – if not frightening – then impenetrable and foreboding. As long as the big three walk without a limp and Rondo runs the show, they are old man swagger personified, with a blast of turbo boost.”

Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don’t Lie – “It’s on Boston. The team that has to start this series in Florida because it started March like a lame-o and ended it in a jam. Yes, Boston flipped that switch last season around this time (a little earlier than this time, if we’re honest) and, yes, Miami can’t be trusted to even make it past half-court if the game is close in the final minutes, but what happens when Miami peels off a 30-12 third quarter? … I don’t think the Celtics have it, anymore. And you’re damned correct in assuming that I hope I’m terribly, terribly wrong about this — because I want this thing to go seven games, and I want a minimum of 14 overtime periods stretched out during that term. I hope Boston flips that switch.”

Brian Windhorst, ESPN – “LeBron James is about to play the most important playoff series of his career. Six surefire Hall of Famers will be playing in this upcoming Heat-Celtics series, but none of them has as much at stake as James does. His status is on the line, and right now there’s no basis for excuse. … Now, with the Celtics at hand again, all of James’ chips are in the middle. Win and he was right. Lose and he’s in the same mud, a year older and looking no wiser. Fair or not, that’s his situation. Either lead his team to being more clutch than Ray Allen, more rugged than Kevin Garnett, more crafty than Paul Pierce and more fearless than Rajon Rondo, or endure another burning summer of discontent. Only this time, the mockery will be more about basketball and not public relations.”

Matt Moore, CBS Sports – “The hardest part about guarding the Celtics is their consistency in running their offense. They’e not going to blow you away with new sets. But they run what they run to such precision that it’s near impossible to stop them. The biggest problem is chasing Ray Allen through screens. Allen will usally cut baseline to baseline through closing screens. The result is Allen getting open for 3-pointers while the defender is still trying to recover from brutal off-ball screens by Glen Davis and KG, and the announcers saying “How can you leave Ray Allen wide open?!” as if the thought of defending the greatest pure shooter (limited to non-ball-handlers who just shoot 3-pointers, please leave your MJ/Kobe debates at home, kids) never crossed their mind. Wade will be assigned to try and get through, but his body isn’t built for the wear and tear. Mario Chalmers might be a better cover here, as Bibby isn’t tall enough to defend in the first place and would get murdered on the screens. Chalmers needs to study tape of what J.J. Redick has done to get through those screens and he can’t afford to lose Allen, even on broken plays or rebounds. If you take your eyes off Allen for a second, that’s three points.”