Ainge was good, not great. He was a very nice complimentary player, and yes, would have scored more on a team that didn't have Bird, McHale, and DJ. He was a marginally plus defender by the standards of the time. He was fantastic in his particular role, with 3s a threat that burned folks who tried to overdo collapsing on McHale, and a beautiful kick-out option who could pass. DJ and Bird made him better than he was.
Nothing 22 does better than 86?
- Athleticism
- Height
- Defensive flexibility (# of players able to defend 4 or 5 positions well)
- Defensive production
- Explosive runs
- Number of players that are a legitimate 3 point threat
- Backcourt & wing depth
86 beats 22:
- Ball handling
- Passing
- Floor awareness/basketball IQ
- Avoiding turnovers
- Cohesion
- Consistency
- Low and high post game/Talented bigs
- Frontcourt Depth
- Fewer bad shots
- Fast break/transition game
- The Bird Factor
- Probably coaching (coaches genius tends to be recognized late, due to a body of work. KC Jones wasn't a wizard - he had DJ and Bird as coaches on the floor, and he largely stayed out of the way - and who knows what we're looking at right now?)
Assuming full health, I'd take 86 in 5-6 games. 22 takes 1-2 games when the threes are dropping at an outsized rate and/or they make timely runs that 86 can't handle. Bird and DJ would each have 25+ steals in the series, leading to huge numbers of points on fast breaks. The consistency and inevitability of 86's points in the paint would be more than 22 could overcome.
And no one asked, but both teams would beat the 08 team.
08 would lose in 7 games vs 22, with The Truth as a potential X factor leading to a possible upset,
08 loses in 6 or 7 to 86. While 22 is a better team than 08, 08 matches up better with 86 than 22 does. KG would be a f***ing problem for McHale/Parish/Walton - I think he's the alpha dog of that group, and Perk and Baby give enough help. Pierce v Bird would be an awesome duel, and overall 08 was a closer match in terms of cohesion, court awareness, taking care of the ball, and basketball IQ. I think "Good Rondo" would actually have given DJ fits, but the overall team defense would cover, and "Bad Rondo" would probably be the big factor that sunk them.