What a series.

It had veteran stars going against young up-and-comers.

It had intense, emotional outbursts expressed by hard fouls, nearly resulting in ejections and subsequent suspensions, and perhaps, creating a new rivalry.

It even had a total of seven overtimes in four games, as well as a record-breaking total of five games decided by three points or less.

Best of all, it had a triple-overtime game six that should be remembered as an instant classic.

By the end of that game, people were calling the Boston Celtics versus Chicago Bulls first-round tilt in the NBA playoffs the best non-finals postseason series. The series could have solidified that opinion with another multi-overtime epic clash.

Too bad it couldn’t stop at six because instead, the Celtics and Bulls conspired to create a relative clunker in Saturday evening’s game seven.

It wasn’t a bad game in itself, especially when compared to any game in the other first-round, seven-game series: the blowout-happy Atlanta Hawks versus Miami Heat.

But game seven had all the hype and hope of concluding a series for the ages, and it ultimately fell short. Although Boston controlled the game throughout much of the first half, the Bulls managed to close the gap in the final minutes, coming to within three at one point.

The game looked destined for overtime.

However, Chicago missed several key 3-pointers and fouled Ray Allen a few too many times on the defensive end, and the Celtics finally put the upstart Bulls away 109-99, a relatively dull ending to what could have been the most epic of first-round series.

But basketball fans should keep in mind that the Celtics-Bulls had no business being a great series under normal circumstances. The Celtics came into the playoffs as the second seed, winners of 62 games and the Atlantic Division as well as the defending NBA champions. Chicago, on the other hand, was a team of young talent with a 41-41 record and the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They had no shot of playing with Boston.

But Boston lost star center Kevin Garnett prior to the playoffs, instantly evening the playing field between the two teams.

With Garnett, Boston is the third-best team in the NBA, ready to challenge the Cavaliers and the Lakers for supremacy in the league. Without him, Boston is the Eastern Conference’s answer to the Manu Ginobili-less San Antonio Spurs.

Luckily, the results in Boston-Chicago have been fantastic, unlike the Spurs’ series.

Without their best player, Boston was forced to rely on Allen to make insane, well-defended jump shots to help force three overtimes in game six.

Also, the unlikely play of Chicago’s Joakim Noah’s steal and breakaway dunk probably wouldn’t have transpired if the game or series had ended earlier due to the presence of the biggest of Boston’s “Big Three.” It’s just too bad the Bulls couldn’t keep up with Boston late in the fourth quarter of game seven.

Who knows how many overtimes game seven would have provided had it been pushed to one?

Reach columnist Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.