We are in the second half of May, and we’re still talking about basketball. Basketball. Not hockey. Not the Bruins’ "One Team, Same Dream." Those current dreams probably revolve around holes-in-one.

Nope, it’s hoop dreams that are back in vogue in this city, and professional basketball is back on the radar screen. And no, we’re not jabbering on about next month’s draft, as we usually do at this time of year, but we’re still, amazingly, talking about competition. The Boston Celtics have advanced to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals, which means that on paper, they are among the top four teams in the league.

" Ha! " you say? You tell me that at least four Western Conference teams that are already relaxing in their Barcaloungers are better than the Celtics? That’s what you’re saying?

I can’t really disagree. In head-to-head regular-season match-ups, the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs both made mincemeat out of the Auerbach Ancestors, and they’re both home watching rodeo. Hell, you’d even have an argument if you claimed that Portland or Minnesota were more deserving of a final-four slot than our hometown hoopsters. Since those teams played in the rough ’n’ tumble West, where there are few patsies to be had, the Blazers and T-Wolves — with practically the same records as Boston in a much tougher conference — could make the argument that they could be considered among the top four teams in the NBA. Unfortunately, they both got smoked in the opening round, so they have nothing left to say. I know, we’ve admitted all season long that the Western Conference is probably superior, and among its Eastern counterparts, some speculated that the Nets were the sole Eastern representative that could remotely be considered among the league’s elite.

Sorry, all that doesn’t matter now. We’ll never know how the Green would have fared against the Blazers or the Wolves, but we do know this: the Celtics are hot. Hot, I say.

They haven’t played a woofer of a game since April 9, when they somehow managed to lose to the Bulls in Chicago, and even that loss has an asterisk because Boston was on the second night of back-to-back road games that had kicked off with an emotional victory in New Jersey. Other than that blip on the screen, the Celtics won eight of their last nine regular-season games, including victories over the Lakers and T-Wolves.

By one measly game, they were relegated to the third seed in the playoffs, forced to face a very dangerous sixth seed: the defending Eastern champs, Philadelphia. Rumors had circulated among the Celtics organization that the Sixers had tanked the latter part of the season in order to draw Boston in the first round, with Philly believing that it matched up better with the Celts (and their regular-season 3-1 record bore that out) than with other potential first-round foes. The Sixers did close out the season on a 6-7 skid — including a home loss to the horrid Bulls — but they were without Allen Iverson during that stretch, and their schedule was reasonably tough.

What was difficult to fathom was how the defending Eastern Conference champs ended up with a mediocre 43-39 overall record with a roster that bore a remarkable resemblance to last year’s league-runner-up squad.

Boston entered that playoff series playing great basketball, and it swept the first two games of the best-of-five series at home before venturing south to Quakertown. The team played two solid games in Philly but lost both by a combined total of seven points. Returning home for the deciding game, the Celtics lit up the Sixers with an unbelievable 43-20 fourth quarter and a 46-point scoring spree by Paul Pierce. The Sixers were held below 87 points in four out of the five games, and the Celtics’ team defense was the story of the series.

Yes, the Green dropped game one of the conference semis 96-84 to the Pistons, in Detroit, but that was just a day and a half after the rousing series clincher over the 76ers. Despite an obvious letdown, the Celts held the second-seeded Pistons to just 18 fourth-quarter points and gave them a tough game that belied the final score. In the next four games — with enough time to break down film and revamp the defense — coach Jim O’Brien and his staff put the hurt on Detroit, exposing the Pistons’ weaknesses en route to a four-game whitewash in which the Motor City mamas were held to 81 points or fewer in each game.

And as quick as that, the Green are there, among the final quartet of teams playing for the O’Brien Trophy. What can we expect from their opponents, the New Jersey Nets?

Well, the one stat that jumps out about the Jerseyites is their gaudy 33-8 regular-season home record, which was far and away the best mark in the conference and third-best (behind the Kings and Lakers, the other two finalists) in the league. However, New Jersey lost both home games it played against the Celtics during the season, and three of four overall. The top-seeded Nets struggled in their first-round series against the eighth seed, Indiana, and even lost the opener at home before winning the next two. How on earth the Nets lost a 23-point decision to the Pacers in the potential series clincher in Indianapolis makes one question their heart, but they did take care of business and the Pacers — albeit in another titanic struggle — in the decisive game five at home.

Moving on to the semifinals, the Nets drew another potential patsy, the fifth-seeded Hornets, who not only were missing one of their best players (Jamal Mashburn), but were playing their last games as residents of Charlotte, North Carolina (they will relocate to New Orleans next season because of sagging home attendance). The Nets beat up the Hornets in the first two games on their home court, but suffered an 18-point battering in game three in Charlotte. Nonetheless, the Nets bounced back, and behind strong fourth-quarter performances took the next two games to take the series in five games (strangely, all four semifinal series were over in five).

So now, while the Kings and Lakers stage what looks to be a seven-game track meet up and down the Golden State, the Eastern Conference bruisers will knock heads to see who will get the chance to reach the NBA Finals.

I’m staying out of the prediction business for now, especially since I picked the Sixers to oust the Celtics in four games in the opening round, but I will venture that this series will be a dandy. And this is what I also believe:

• O’Brien and his staff are starting to remind me of Bill Belichick and his Patriots’ coaching cohorts: give them enough time to prepare a game plan — particularly a defensive scheme — and tab the team as the underdog, and the coaches will produce miracles.

• Like the Patriots, the Celtics are exhibiting strong team concepts, a prime example being Tuesday’s game-five clincher when the supersubs held off the surging Pistons in spite of the team’s superstars, Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, being stuck on the bench with foul trouble. Yes, Walker and Pierce are clearly the go-to guys, but nearly the entire bench has been used throughout the Celtics’ remarkable run, and a different hero has emerged nearly every game, whether it be a McCarty, Strickland, Delk, or Anderson.

• One team has not had a bad game in six weeks, and the other has submitted numerous recent stinkers, even in the glare of the playoff spotlight.

• Right now the Boston home-court advantage seems to be slightly superior to New Jersey’s, despite the regular-season statistics. The Celts have won their last 10 at the FleetCenter, while the Nets are 6-3 in their last nine home tilts.

• I’ll take Jim O’Brien over Byron Scott any day of the week in a pressure-packed-playoff coaching match-up.

• Defense. Duh. I can’t remember the last time I saw Kenny Anderson, or any Celtic for that matter, do that matador-like Olé! routine. No opponent gets to the hoop anymore without getting whacked.

• I don’t know if Anderson can stop the Nets’ Jason Kidd, but I do know that Keith Van Horn sure as hell cannot stop Pierce.

Both offenses have a lot of weapons, and I think the series will be very entertaining and should go at least six games. Only three wins separated the two teams in the final regular-season standings, and there is little doubt that these two teams both belong here. It now comes down to making plays and making stands.

And like the AFC playoffs, we again have the regular-season titan as the top seed with home-field/court advantage, against our local heroes. Our heretofore lovable losers, just a year or two removed from a last-place season, have surprised everyone just by making the playoffs. Yet here they are, tabbed as a decided underdog heading into the tournament, now among the final four teams and playing their best ball of the year. Who in their right mind gives them a chance?

We got ’em right where we want ’em.

Sporting Eye runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com