The Boston Celtics have signed 22-year old center Patrick O’Bryant to a 2-year contract. O’Bryant has good size at 7′0″, 250 pounds but he never quite lived up to his potential at Golden State. He also got into Don Nelson’s Dog House and never crawled out of it. O’Bryant played in 24 games (0 starts) with the Warriors last season and he averaged 4.1 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Maybe a change of scenery will help O’Bryant revive his NBA career. O’Bryant has now played in 40 games (0 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 5.5 minutes, 1.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. It never hurts to add a 7-footer so O’Bryant was worth the gamble.

This appears to be a huge mis-match when you look at regular season records but the matchups are much closer than it might appear. Here is a closer look at those matchups:

POINT GUARD: The Hawks traded for Mike Bibby at the trade deadline and that was the reason they made the playoffs. Bibby gave the Hawks’ offense direction that it hasn’t had in a long, long time. In 33 games (32 starts) for the Hawks, Bibby averaged 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Bibby also has a ton of playoff experience and he knows all the tricks.

Rajon Rondo had a good sophomore season for the Celtics. He started 77 games for the Celtics this season and he averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Rondo is a defensive stopper and he could give Bibby some fits.

EDGE: HAWKS

SHOOTING GUARD: This will be the matchup to watch in this series….Joe Johnson vs. Ray Allen. Joe Johnson is one of the better guards in the NBA but he just hasn’t got the respect until now. He started 82 games for the Hawks this season and he averaged 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

Ray Allen fit in well with the team concept of the Celtics. He started 73 games for the Celtics this year and he averaged 17.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Allen and Johnson are both outstanding outside shooters so it will be fun to watch them mix it up.

EDGE: EVEN

SMALL FORWARD: Marvin Williams really improved for the Hawks this season. He started 80 games this season for the Hawks and he averaged 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Williams will have his hands full with Paul Pierce.

Paul Pierce also bought into the “team first” mentality of the Celtics this season. He started 80 games for the Celtics this season and he averaged 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Pierce can take over a game on offense if the Celtics’ need him to.

EDGE: CELTICS

POWER FORWARD: This will be a much better matchup than anyone thinks it might be. Josh Smith is one of the best all-around players in the NBA but no one ever hears about him because he plays for the Hawks but that’s about to change soon. Smith started 81 games for the Hawks this year and he averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.8 blocked shots per game. Smith is always hustling on the basketball court and his energy rubs off on his teammates.

Kevin Garnett is one of the best players in the NBA, period. He started 71 games for the Celtics this year and he averaged 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Garnett is capable of much more and he might show it in the playoffs.

EDGE: CELTICS

CENTER: The Hawks had one of the best rookies this season in center Al Horford. Horford played in 81 games (77 starts) for the Hawks this season and he averaged 10.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Horford is capable of even more offense but the Hawks have enough scorers that they usually don’t turn to him.

All the Celtics wanted out of starting center Kendrick Perkins was rebounding and defense. Perkins started 78 games for the Celtics this season and he averaged 6.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.

EDGE: HAWKS

BENCH: The Hawks’ bench isn’t very deep at all. Josh Childress is one of the best 6th men in the NBA. He played in 76 games (0 starts) last season for the Hawks and he averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Center Zaza Pachulia is a better player than he showed this season. He played in 62 games (5 starts) for the Hawks this season and he averaged 5.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Salim Stoudamire is the backup shooting guard for the Hawks. He played in 35 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this season and he averaged 5.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Reserve point guard Acie Law will back up Mike Bibby in this series. He played in 56 games (6 starts) for the Hawks this season and he averaged 4.2 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.0 assists per game.

The Celtics have a pretty deep bench. It all starts with F/C Leon Powe. Powe played in 56 games (5 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Reserve point guard Sam Cassell was brought over from the Clippers during the season. He played in 17 games (1 start) for the Celtics and he averaged 7.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Cassell is a money player who saves his best basketball for the playoffs. Eddie House is a instant offense type player off the bench. He played in 78 games (2 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. James Posey is a defensive stopper and a good long range shooter. Posey played in 74 games (2 starts) and he averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game for the Celtics this season. Tony Allen got kind of buried on the bench for the Celtics but he has game. Allen played in 75 games (11 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Glen “Big Baby” Davis has a soft body but he plays a strong mans’ game. He played in 69 games (1 start) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Brian Scalabrine is a hustle player for the Celtics. He played in 48 games (9 starts) for the Celtics and he averaged 1.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Veteran power forward P.J. Brown signed late in the season with the Celtics. He played in 18 games (0 starts) for the Celtics and he averaged 2.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

PREDICTION: CELTICS IN 6 GAMES

The Celtics have signed 38-year old point guard Sam Cassell for the remainder of the season. Cassell will provide the Celtics with backup minutes at point guard behind Rajon Rondo. This move will help the Celtics big time as Cassell has always been “money” in the playoffs hitting big shot after big shot. He played in 38 games (33 starts) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 25.7 minutes, 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Cassell hit 45.5% of his shots from the floor so far this season and he also has nailed 89.1% of his free throws which shows he hasn’t lost his shooting touch. Cassell has now played in 976 games (689 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 30.2 minutes, 15.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has shot 45.4% from the floor, 33% from three point range and 86.1% from the free throw line over his career. This is the kind of move you make when the NBA Championship is your only goal and the Celtics haven’t had those kind of aspirations since the days of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson.

The Boston Celtics have signed 38-year old power forward P.J. Brown to a contract for the remainder of the season. Brown played in 72 games (29 starts) last season for the Bulls and he averaged 20.2 minutes, 6.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He only shot 40.7% from the floor but he nailed 78.7% of his free throws. Brown has now played in 1,071 games (990 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 31.4 minutes, 9.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 block per game. This was a good signing for the Celtics as P.J. Brown will be able to provide defense and rebounding off the bench.

The Celtics have waived F/C Esteban Batista and G/F Dahntay Jones. The Celtics figured they weren’t going to play either of these guys very much so they did them a favor so that they might get to hook up with another team. Batista only played in 1 game in the pre-season and he played 19 minutes and he scored 7 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 1 assists and stole the ball twice. Dahntay Jones played poorly in the pre-season for the Celtics as he played in 5 games and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He didn’t shoot well either as he was 5 for 14 from the floor and 3 for 7 from the free throw line.