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Doc Rivers Blames Inconsistent Bench for Celtics’ Struggles, But Says Team Won’t Panic

All Celtics fans heard entering this season was that the team had built itself a deep bench, and that the second and third units would be among the best in the NBA.

That’s been far from the case, however, as the C’s reserves have struggled — particularly when Kevin Garnett is parked on the bench — and the results haven’t been pretty. Boston was beat on Wednesday night by Memphis, and the Celtics now find themselves riding a four-game losing streak to a 14-17 record.

C’s head coach Doc Rivers is running out of answers in a constant search for consistency.

“We’ve been inconsistent,” Rivers said on WEEI on Thursday morning. “Defense one night, offense [Wednesday] night. The first half last night we scored points and couldn’t get stops, the second half we got stops and couldn’t score points.

Again, much of that stems from the lack of production from the Celtics bench, one of the biggest concerns through the first 31 games.

“Our inconsistent bench play, when Kevin comes out of games,” Rivers said when asked about the biggest problem the Celtics have right now. “Over the year, the season so far, when Kevin has come out of game we’ve really struggled to get the bench to play well. … Our depth hasn’t shown, and that’s one of the things we thought we could have coming into the year. That would be our biggest disappointment.”

So, could change be on the horizon for the Celtics? It’s no secret that C’s president Danny Ainge isn’t afraid to shake things up. If he does decide to do that, Rivers says, it will be because he’s found a move to make the team better. It won’t be a move born from panic.

“If we come to that conclusion, that time is always,” Rivers said, according to WEEI.com. “You know Danny, we are always going to look to improve our team but we’re not going to panic.”