Atlantic: 13 Boston Celtics

The adage that rookies should be seen and not heard was a difficult one for the Celtics' Paul Pierce to abide by last season. Pierce had every intention of making as much noise as possible so the nine teams that bypassed him on draft night—he'd been projected as a top-three choice-would come to regret that decision. That's why, during preseason drills, every time he knocked down a jumper, he would call out the name of a player who was drafted before him.

Boston was stunned by its good fortune at snagging the 6'6" Pierce, whose ball handling and shooting skills made him equally formidable as a small forward or a shooting guard. The Celtics were surprised further by his commitment to defense—he led the team in steals with 1.71 a game. They were more than happy to provide Pierce with the necessary playing time to prove his point, and he responded by becoming Boston's most consistent performer.

Pierce's instant success should have been nothing but good news for a team that has not been to the postseason since 1994-95. Instead, his performance left a few key members of the Celtics, among them forwards Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer, and point guard Kenny Anderson, puzzled about their roles. Walker led Boston in scoring (18.7 points per game) and took the most shots (17.5), but while Pierce became a fan favorite, Walker was dismissed as selfish and immature: the anti-Pierce. The booing Walker endured at home during the latter part of last season, in which the Celtics again failed to make the playoffs, was unprecedented for a Boston All-Star.

During his summer workouts in Los Angeles, Pierce says, "I thought a lot about what happened. I was hoping it would make everybody come back hungrier, and it did. We're fit, and we're ready. The only big concern I have is how well we'll get along. The talent is definitely there, but we'll have to see on the team chemistry."

We'll also have to see on president-coach Rick Pitino's guarantee that Boston will make the playoffs this season. Considering that the Celtics finished 19-31 in 1998-99, Pitino's directive appears to be a tall order, especially since his roster has undergone an overhaul for the second season in a row.

Perhaps the biggest factor in determining whether Boston can reinvent itself as Team Harmony is how well Pitino and Walker coexist. The two banged heads on numerous occasions last season. Pitino was, for example, unhappy with the lousy shape Walker was in when the lockout ended, and he didn't hesitate to go public with his displeasure. Walker, in turn, felt Pitino didn't back him strongly enough when the masses turned on him. The two sat down during the off-season and supposedly cleared the air. "It was a hard year," Walker says, "but I'm trying to put everything behind me and come into this year clean. Do I worry about our team chemistry? Of course. But from the looks of it so far, everyone is on the same page."

Mercer's future, which emerged as a distraction late last season, is a moot point now, since Trader Rick dealt him in August to the Nuggets for power forward Danny Fortson, small forward Eric Williams and shooting guard Eric Washington. Though Pitino appreciated Mercer's talent, including the damage he inflicted from the perimeter, he wasn't willing to pay him the maximum salary for those skills. In fact Mercer was on the trading block for the better part of a year before Pitino made the deal with Denver.

The key to the swap for Boston was Fortson, a 6'8", 270-pound wide-body rebounder whom the Celtics hoped would provide an imposing presence in the frontcourt and enable Walker to get more minutes at his natural position, small forward. Pitino likened the 23-year-old Fortson, the league's best offensive rebounder last year (4.2 per game), to Nets center Jayson Williams "without the wisdom and the years. Danny goes after every rebound like Jayson does and has the same tenacity." But Boston was dealt a blow this week when Fortson underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. He's expected to be out eight to 12 weeks.

The Celtics thought they had acquired the physical presence they were seeking last March, when they dealt Andrew DeClercq and their 1999 first-round choice to the Cavaliers for center Vitaly Potapenko. At 6'10" and 285 pounds, Potapenko had the necessary bulk to clog the middle, but he proved to be an average defender and a mediocre rebounder (career average: 4.2). The trade left Pitino open to criticism, especially when Cleveland used the No. 8 pick to take Utah point guard Andre Miller. Pitino countered by saying that he didn't need more rookies, no matter how talented.

If Fortson can return to form and fill the void up front, the Celtics may be able to push the ball. Anderson, who endured one of the most disappointing seasons of his career last year, will be charged again with controlling tempo. His play is critical to Boston's chances, especially since his backups are Wayne Turner, a rookie free agent from Kentucky, and veteran Dana Barros, who is better suited to shooting guard. Is Anderson willing to take a backseat to Pierce and Walker? Anderson dismisses the notion that he would refuse to play a secondary role as "ridiculous."