NBA: What if the playoffs were only best-of-five series?

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NBA Boston Celtics Paul Pierce (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /

2009-2012: How about those Boston Celtics

If there is one winner in all of this it is clearly the Celtics.

Here we are in 2009 when the Celtics would have won in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic. The choice for the Lakers is now Boston or Cleveland. On one hand, we can have another wrinkle in the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, or we can have the LeBron-Kobe Finals matchup we were never able to see.

The 2010 Finals was a great seven-game series, with Kobe Bryant bringing home his fifth ring. However, the Celtics would have won in a five-game series as they took home that fifth game in Boston. The Celtics would now have taken two out of three from the Lakers and clearly asserted themselves as one of the greatest trios of all-time.

But that’s not all. By beating the Heat in five games in 2012, they would go on to face the Thunder in the NBA Finals. This would be the ultimate test of youth vs. experience as the KD-Russ-Harden trio would take on Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. The x-factor here would be Rajon Rondo, as he was roughly at the peak of his career and would have added a fourth dimension that the Thunder could not compete with and the Celtics take home their third title in their own Big Three era.