If East is so weak, what is going on in Boston?

To the Boston Celtics, I say thank you. No team has done more to quell the ridiculous notion that the NBA playoff system needs to be restructured than the Celtics. Unfortunately, they aren't giving out banners for that accomplishment.

Five of the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams finished with a worse record this season than Golden State, the ninth-place team in the West, and a number of media Naismiths decided it was time to invent a new system.

In the playoffs, however, the Celtics seem intent on proving that the East is tougher than the record suggested. At 2:30 p.m. today, the Celtics will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in Boston in Game 7 of their conference semifinal series. It will be the Celtics' second consecutive seven-game series.

Being extended to seven games by a team led by LeBron James is not embarrassing. But the Celtics also had to go seven games to defeat the Atlanta Hawks, who finished the regular season at 37-45.

The struggles are shocking for a team that clearly was the best in the NBA during the regular season -- and performance in the regular season is important because that is exactly why critics wanted to restructure the playoffs and have the top 16 teams, regardless of conference, make the playoffs.

Boston's 66-16 record was not a fluke, and it was not because of lesser competition in the East. The Celtics had a 25-5 record against the Western Conference for a winning percentage of .833. That was by far the best in the league. The Lakers' 37-15 record was the best in the West by a conference team, but that is a winning percentage of only .712.

Entering the playoffs, there seemed little doubt that the Celtics were the favorite, but they have been unimpressive and, frankly, it has confused everyone.

Explaining the Celtics' difficulties has become the latest fad in the NBA, but most of the theories do not hold up to scrutiny. The Celtics made major changes in the off-season, and some have suggested that the newness of the team is taking its toll in the playoffs.

But Atlanta made a major trade in February when it acquired point guard Mike Bibby from the Kings. (By the way, anyone else find it strange that the Hawks seemed to adjust better to their new point guard than the Mavericks did?)

The Cavs brought in Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Joe Smith at the trading deadline, so their team is less familiar with each other than the Celtics.

Perhaps what we are finding out is that The Big Three is actually the big three. Kevin Garnett is a great player, definitely -- like Dirk Nowitzki -- one of the top 10 players in the league.

But Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have struggled, each averaging fewer points than they did in the regular season and both shooting terribly from the field. Pierce has made 40.7 percent of his shots and Allen has made 39.4 percent.

Maybe those two aren't as great as we thought. No doubt they are very, very good. But thus far, the Celtics' three are not to be confused with, say, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

The good news for the Celtics is that they have the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. If they never lose at home, they will win the championship.

But they are in a much worse position against the Cavs than they were against the Hawks, whom they beat by 34 in Game 7. LeBron already has proven to be one of those rare players who can will his team to a victory. Last season in Game 5 in Detroit, James scored 48 points -- including 25 straight and 29 of the Cavs' last 30 -- to lead Cleveland to a victory. The Cavs went on to win the next game to advance to the NBA Finals.

Even if the Celtics win, the veteran Pistons -- who have been to six consecutive Eastern Finals -- are waiting. Suddenly, Detroit looks like the team to beat in the East.

As usual, there have been more low-scoring games in the East than in the West, but the East has been more fascinating and more competitive than the West. The NBA has a number of things it could fix. It is evident that the structure of the playoffs is not one of them.