They are putting up the good fight, but it will likely end Wednesday.
Paul Pierce is trying to lead the Celtics to a historic comeback against the Knicks, who lead 3-1 in the NBA first-round series. There are times I wish the Celtics were not so darned admirable.
Their coach is a man you would like as your neighhbor or your mayor. Their veterans understand that wearing Celtic green is special, and they embrace its demands rather than shrink from them.
They are fighting the good fight when the fight is about over. The spirit is willing, but the season will end Wednesday night in New York.
At least there should be no debate of whether an era is over. It's been over for some time, as Ray Allen understood when he high-tailed it to Miami for a chance to be a champion again.
For the Celtics, it might have ended in Games 6 and 7 against Miami last year. Maybe the end was in 2010, when a Game 7 Finals loss at Los Angeles was the last good whiff of a second title in the New Big 3 era.
Teams with great heart can fool us because we want to be fooled. The Celtics responded to Rajon Rondo's Jan. 25 knee injury with a seven-game winning streak, tempting fans to think Rondo was replaceable.
A 7-13 slide to end the season exposed that fallacy. New York's 3-1 playoff series lead, interrupted only by Boston's Game 4 overtime victory, has shown the Knicks to be clearly superior to the aging, injured Celtics.
Even that Game 4 win saw the Celtics squander a 20-point lead before summoning one last gasp.
It would be easy to dismiss the Celtics if they were petulant, selfish, dysfunctional or otherwise annoying in the so-called "modern athlete'' ways. Instead, they are striking an Alamo-like pose behind noble veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, and trying to forestall the inevitable.
There is no quit in these Celtics. If there were, we could detach ourselves from them with emotional ease.
That's we did with the 2011 and 2012 Red Sox, remember?
But n-o-o-o, as Steve Martin used to say. They have to come out fighting and win a game while they search for their own Dave Roberts, a man to unlock the keys to overcoming a 3-0 series deficit.
They have to show an unyielding will and spirit, compelling us to hang in there with them until the end.
After finishing next to last in the NBA in rebounding, they are relying on ancient role models and a cast of role players to discover some playoff magic. But when the tank is empty, pounding the gas pedal does no good.
The Celtics' second-half scoring average in this series is 26 points. In the fourth quarters, the average is 12.
Were Rondo not out there waiting, this would feel a lot like 1992, when the first Big 3 team began to succumb to age and change. The Rondo of that era was the tragic Reggie Lewis, who did not live to infuse the team with his youth, vigor and talent.
Rondo will do that if he comes back fully healthy, but not everybody with this type of injury does. The Bulls are still waiting on Derrick Rose.
If Rondo's injury has a lingering effect, next season might end with Celtics fans pining for the good old days of 2013, when at least they made the playoffs.
Even if it ends Wednesday, they will have lasted one game longer than the Lakers. A small consolation.
If they would only act like pampered, spoiled frauds, the way so many other teams do, we could dismiss these Celtics with a clear conscience. If they would only give up, we could give up on them with a clear conscience.
Instead, they will put up the good fight till the bitter end. They are no longer good enough, but they still stand for all the right things.
That's what makes this last stand so hard to watch, but worth watching anyway.