Once again, the Celtics have run into midseason trouble. After starting the season guns blazing at 23-4, they’re merely a .500 team over their last six games. Their status as top dog in the Eastern Conference is once again in question, as it seems to be every season around the dawn of the new year.
What is it about these Celtics? Are they a step slow, perhaps still packing a little extra weight after the holidays?
That could be it. Either that, or they’re just old and injured again.
Let’s count down seven thoughts on the Celtics and their wee little slip from NBA supremacy.
1. The Celtics’ post-holiday swoon is nothing new. Far from it, in fact. Here are a few numbers. In 2008, the C’s lost to the Lakers on Christmas Day and began a skid of seven losses in nine games. In ’09, the Celtics beat the Magic on Christmas but lost eight of 12 immediately after. And this year, the C’s got their rematch with Orlando, lost it, and proceeded to lose twice more shortly thereafter. The common thread is injuries to star players, namely Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. If the C’s could keep their leaders healthy every year, they’d be unbeatable. If only.
2. Garnett is out for two weeks with a strained calf muscle, and of course the temptation is there to compare this latest ailment to 2009. As astute Celtics fans might remember, KG was initially slated to miss two to three weeks when the C’s shut him down in February of ’09, and it wound up being the rest of the season. But have no fear, C’s fans — this time will be different. KG’s injury is the calf, not the knee, a much less serious situation. He’ll be back before you know it.
3. Interesting stat: Over the last three-plus seasons, Garnett hasn’t historically been the most indispensable of the Celtics’ veteran stars. That would be Pierce. Since the Big Three came together in 2007, the C’s are 8-6 (.571) without Pierce, 33-16 (.673) without KG, and 11-3 (.786) without Ray Allen. The team had an especially tough stretch last year when the captain had his knee troubles. They went 5-6 in 11 games without him, and it takes a lot to make the Celtics a sub-.500 basketball team.
4. Speaking of Pierce, if you haven’t already checked out this video, then you really ought to.
Apparently when Pierce dove into the stands in Indiana last week to go after a loose ball, he grabbed a water bottle away from a woman in the front row and took a swig. Hard to blame Pierce. It’s a long game, and sometimes you get thirsty and you can’t help yourself.
5. What a roller-coaster weekend for Glen Davis. On Friday afternoon, Big Baby made an ugly mistake in a key moment against the Hornets, bricking a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter with 14 seconds still on the shot clock. Coach Doc Rivers told Baby, no doubt, that he should have been passing. So what does he so Sunday against the Raptors? He passes more than ever before, coming up with a career-high eight assists. Davis had never had more than four assists in an NBA game before Sunday evening, and suddenly, he was within two dimes of a triple-double. No one saw that coming.
6. The craziest statistical standout of the week wasn’t Big Baby — it was his opposing power forward on Monday night. Kevin Love was a sight to behold against the Celtics, piling up 10 rebounds in the first quarter and finishing with 24 to Baby’s one. Love now has 545 rebounds this season, 30 double-doubles, and six games with 20 boards or more. All three of those figures lead the NBA. Rivers on Monday night compared Love to a young Dennis Rodman, and it’s pretty clear why.
7. Every year, we hear hype about the Bulls’ record of 72 wins potentially being broken. We heard it initially with the Celtics’ Big Three, we heard it when the Heat built their superteam this summer, and we hear it pretty much every year with the Lakers. But wouldn’t it be funny if out of nowhere, the San Antonio Spurs shocked the world and won 72-plus? They currently sit at 29-4 on the season, easily the best record in the NBA, meaning they’re on pace for — get this — 72.06 wins by season’s end.
It’s up to the Celtics to stop the Spurs dead in their tracks. The two teams meet Wednesday night in a potential NBA Finals preview.
