Your Morning Dump... The Celtics need to stay hungry

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

"I wish we could take them to Alcatraz for four days and be on the island all by ourselves," Rivers said. "That's not going to happen. Going home, it's great in a lot of ways. But in other ways, it's tough. Everywhere they go, they're going to hear how great they are.

"We haven't done anything -- you need four wins; we have two. That's it. Orlando hasn't had a chance to play in our place. So we have to just keep playing basketball."

ESPN Boston - Keeping the killer instinct

While we all remember the gigantic egg laid at the Garden in Game 3 vs Cleveland, this Magic team lacks a superhero (sorry Dwight, but the Cs proved in Game 2 they can withstand your best offensive game) who can single-handedly lift them to a victory.

If the Celtics stick to the formula (1-on-1 vs Howard, aggressive perimeter defense), I don't see how they lose either game at home.

The Celtics also have history on their side:

In the history of the NBA, 14 teams have dug themselves out of a two-games-to-none hole to win a series. But only three teams have ever done so after dropping the first two games of a seven-game series on their home floor: the Dallas Mavericks in 2005, the Houston Rockets in 1994, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969.

On Page 2, premature talk about this team being better than 2008.

Back then it took them three more games just to get to this round, and they split the first two with Detroit in the conference finals. By this point, the Celtics already had faced two elimination games.

But the recent success makes comparative sense. They’re better now.

James Posey and P.J. Brown are gone. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen may not be quite the consistent forces they were back then, but they’ve become so good at picking their spots, the difference is barely noticeable to the naked eye...

But the current Kendrick Perkins, Tony Allen and Glen Davis are much improved from 2008.

You still have Pierce and Allen to come off screens and make shots, but the major difference this time around is that you have Rajon Rondo, who can break a foe’s back by himself. His scoring drives don’t just deliver two points. The wildly dramatic fakes rub the opponents’ noses in the two points and makes them a half-step slower coming back up the floor. Watch next time he does one of those Globetrotter moves that included everything but the rubberband on the ball to bring it back.

Herald - Improved Celtics may be better than in 08

Steve Buckley does a great job laying out all the evidence, and it's a debate I'm salivating to have. But this is the kind of talk Doc Rivers referenced. We can resume this discussion in two weeks.

The rest of the links:

Globe - Magic line up for Carter | It's smooth sailing on the road | Herald - Celtics getting defensive | Cs need rest but fear it could kill momentum | CSNNE - Rested development | Focused Allen propelling Cs | WEEI - Sheed lives for big games | Cs 1st round draft prospects | ESPN - Gasol powers Lakers to win | Celtics Hub - Pride is funny thing | Orlando Sentinel - Magic players remain upbeat |