No team is fresh at the start of the playoffs. The wear and tear of an 82-game season generally doesn't allow any team to be fully healthy or free of fatigue. That especially applies to the older teams in the NBA. The grind of the season always leads us to question what, if anything, the league's older teams have left in the tank at the start of the postseason.

The Boston Celtics have heard these questions more than most teams. 

They're a bit younger than last year's team, but not in ways that will give them a competitive advantage. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry are all in their mid-30's. They're the guys that the Celtics will look to for most of the team's key plays and each player's resume suggests that's a good thing. 

Being older in the NBA isn't exactly a bad thing - it's not like young teams are winning championships. In fact, many of the league's younger teams aren't in the running.

The Celtics, old as they may be, are still capable of playing good basketball, that we know, but will they have enough in the tank to compete for another title? 

In last season's Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics had the Miami Heat on the ropes after taking a 3-2 lead following Game 5, before seemingly running out of gas late in Game 7. Will they be able to find the energy to sustain consistency and win close games this postseason?

They think so and enter the playoffs feeling good enough and fresh enough to make another deep run toward a title.

"I like our team. I like or team a lot," Doc Rivers said after the team clinched the seventh seed. "The key for us is getting through the rest of the games, having some great practices and getting ready for the playoffs. That's what you play the whole season for."

Fatigue, injury and chemistry are always concerns for an older team. Rivers has carefully managed his stars’ minutes to make certain that all their fuel wasn't burnt getting to the playoffs. The feeling in Boston is that everyone is ready to go.

"Our health is good. Kevin (Garnett) feels great," Rivers said. "We've given him a ton of rest over the last few weeks. Our veteran guys are getting rest and our young guys are getting a lot of playing time, which will get them going for the playoffs. I think we're setting ourselves up for a nice run. "

There has been some concern that resting the team's most important players could lead to a disruption of chemistry. It's unknown how the younger players will respond once the Celtics' core guys return to their featured roles.

It's not something Boston believes will be an issue. 

"Rest is always good," Garnett said. "There's never anything wrong with rest, especially when you need it and you're preparing for things to come. It's not that we're not preparing with the team, we're just not playing the games." 

"Resting doesn't mean we're not getting into rhythm with our team because we're not playing because we are still preparing with the team."

Rested and healthy, the Celtics are confident that a deep playoff run is not only possible, it's probable.

"We're very confident," Jeff Green said. "Everybody is healthy and that's the biggest thing. I feel like we can play with anybody if we have everybody healthy. We're going to be ready."