Sadly, The Celtics Still Remain Stuck In NBA Purgatory

The unfortunate reality of today's NBA is that your favorite team is going nowhere unless they have multiple All-Stars and/or reside in a sunny location like LA or Miami. Even worse, places which should be attractive to free agents like Boston or New York are not at all, meaning that one of the league's marquee franchises-the Celtics-will be nothing more than a slightly above average team until they can hoodwink a former player to trade another franchise guy (thanks again Kevin McHale for Kevin Garnett).

Armed with four draft picks last week (2 in each round), we hoped that Boston would move up to get an impact player. Instead, GM Danny Ainge stuck with all four to get a mostly uninspiring group: Louisville guard Terry Rozier, Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter, LSU power forward Jordan Mickey and William and Mary (yes they play basketball there) Marcus Thornton (the other one). Free agency began last night at midnight and as expected, the Green and White have been pretty quiet thus far. There has been whispers about free agent power forward Greg Monroe (who would be perfect for the C's) but that died down rather fast as he got wooed by more likely suitors.

All Boston has done so far is sign former Raptors power forward Amir Johnson (2 years, $24 million) and re-sign power forward Jonas Jerebko (2 years, $10 million) and swingman Jae Crowder (5 years, $35 million). Don't get me wrong, these are all decent players that will help but truthfully, they don't bring the Celtics any closer to that elusive Banner 19. They are all role players and that'll probably never change.

Johnson is quite a success story since he skipped college and was drafted late in the second round (56th overall by the Pistons) in 2005. He's 28 and he's coming off of a six-year run North of the border. Last season, he averaged 9.3 points per game, 6.1 rebounds and he shot 57% from the floor and 41% on 3-pointers. He's 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds but not the most physical guy so you won't see him battling too much down low (a big issue for the undersized Celtics last season). He is a good shooter with decent range for a big guy.

Jerebko was a complete unknown when he was traded here last season for Detroit. At 28, he is a perfect bench player as he showed in 29 games with the Celts (7.1 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 41% on 3-pointers). Likewise, Crowder seemed like a throw-in from the Mavericks to complete the Rajon Rondo deal (remember him?) but he can really play. A versatile and tough defender, he brought an edge to the C's as they made that surprising run to the playoffs before they were swept by the Cavaliers in the first round. After not getting much of a chance to show what he can do in Dallas, Crowder made the most of his opportunity last season: averaging a career-best 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and one steal per game for Boston in 57 games. He turns 25 on Monday so a longer contract makes sense since he is currently one of the Celtics' best players (really).

Where else does Boston go from here? Your guess is as good as mine; just don't count on them bringing in any big names. With head coach Brad Stevens and a bunch of coachable, hard-working, team-first players, the C's are destined for another playoff spot and a quick exit once again when they go up against one of the East's best teams like Cleveland, Chicago or Atlanta. Are you having fun yet?

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Rajon Rondo Needs To Grow Up

I don't ask for much from the Boston Celtics this season but if they're crumbling into irrelevance, can they at least do it with some class?

Apparently that's more than Rajon Rondo can handle since he got ejected tonight in Detroit for throwing the ball at a referee as Detroit (11-22) beat Boston (15-15) 96-81 for the second time in a week, in this case at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Celtics have lost three straight and their season is starting to become a joke. Kevin Garnett missed the game (family matter) and Brandon Bass is still out so clearly the C's needed Rondo (5 points, 10 assists) to be a leader for once and play well. Nope, that's too much to ask. Upset over not getting a foul call, he let his emotions get the best of him. They wouldn't have come back anyway but this one stings since he'll probably get suspended too, you simply can't pull a ridiculous move like that and hope to get away with it.

Four of five Pistons starter scored in double-figures led by Greg Monroe (17 points, 10 rebounds). Rodney Stuckey had 16 points, Tayshaun Prince added 13 points and Brandon Knight scored 12. Jason Maxiell grabbed 10 rebounds while Jonas Jerebko posted 13 points off the bench.

Paul Pierce had 18 points, Chris Wilcox added 14 points and Ray Allen scored 13. Jermaine O'Neal (8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks) actually had one of his best games in a Celtic uniform but who will remember it? I always poke fun at Zombie Jermaine but I will give him credit: he can still play defense. It's a shame that he wasn't on the Celtics before all his assorted injuries.

It was tied at 26 after the first quarter but Detroit started to pull away after that. They led 55-42 and 75-61 heading into the fourth. The Celts could never make it interesting or whittle it down to anything manageable.

This contest had some wacky numbers, mainly because the Celtics had 24 turnovers which led to 40 points for the Pistons. Boston shot better (44.4%-37.8%), they had eight more assists (22-14) and blocked seven more shots (11-4). Here's where it gets really depressing. Detroit took 31 more free throws (46-15), only made 18 more (29-11), they had seven more steals (13-6) and scored 22 more points in the paint (42-20).

I wish I had something positive to say about the Celts but the fact that they play at Dallas tomorrow night and in Oklahoma City on Wednesday basically guarantees they'll lose five straight games regardless if Garnett returns and Rondo does or doesn't get suspended. Good times! Now is about the point when Celtics GM Danny Ainge does something insane that none of us saw coming. Am I right Danny?

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KG Sits With A Hip Flexor And Pistons Shock The Celtics At TD Garden

Kevin Garnett sat out for the first time this season and as a direct result, the Boston Celtics lacked any passion or heart.

The Detroit Pistons (9-22) came into TD Garden tonight and beat the Celts (15-13) 98-88, sending Boston on a pivotal road trip with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Going 11-8 at home during an easy schedule to start the 2011-12 season is not how Doc Rivers and company drew it up. Now, they'll finish with 24 of their final 38 games on the road. Hope you enjoy the jet life guys.

Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 35 points but his other numbers were more modest: six assists, five rebounds, four steals. The team won't be successful when he's asked to carry that much of the load offensively. Not surprisingly, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen each were limited to 10 points. They combined for 16 shot attempts while Rondo took 27 shots.

Chris Wilcox started for KG and put up a similar line: 17 points and nine rebounds. JaJuan Johnson notched 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Three Pistons had 22+ points which is hard to fathom since they're an awful team. Rodney Stuckey led Detroit with 25 points while Greg Monroe had 22 points and nine rebounds. Ben Gordon put up 22 points off the bench.

Boston was only down one point (73-72) heading into the fourth but they folded in the final frame, getting outscored 25-16.

The Celtics will embark on their second longest road trip of the season, surpassed only by an insane eight-game trip in March. It's stretched out even longer since the All-Star break happens next weekend as well. They play three contenders (Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma City) and two teams going nowhere (Detroit, Cleveland) although the Pistons and Cavaliers have both beaten Boston already this season.

The fun gets started tomorrow night as Boston rolls into Chitown for the double whammy: second night of a back-to-back and they beat the Bulls on Sunday. Yeah, it could get ugly.

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Paul Pierce Makes His 2011-12 Debut & Magically The Celtics Are A Different Team

I can't sit here and pretend that beating the Detroit Pistons means anything since they're one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Still, tonight's home opener for the Celtics couldn't have gone much better as Boston (1-3) rolled 96-85 at TD Garden over the Pistons (0-3), for their first win after a miserable three-game road trip to start the season.

Celts captain Paul Pierce made his inaugural appearance of the 2011-12 season and it was an effective one as he put up 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in just 23 minutes of action.

Facing Detroit for its home opener wasn't a sexy matchup by any means; I don't think the NBA could have conjured a much worse one in that regard but in terms of teams that the Celts could beat on most nights, it's hard to top the Pistons who are going nowhere fast.

To illustrate how much of a pushover Lawrence Frank's (it was nice to see that pipsqueak again) squad is, Jermaine O'Neal had a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds for the C's. Ray Allen added 17 points and Brandon Bass had 17 points off the bench.

As a team, Boston shot a perfect 19 of 19 from the free throw line which offset quiet performances from Rajon Rondo (9 points, 5 assists) and Kevin Garnett (8 points).

Greg Monroe led Detroit with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Tayshaun Prince and Jonas Jerebko were the other Pistons starters to score in double figures, both had 10 points. Austin Daye scored 11 points off the bench and rookie Brandon Knight put up 10 points.

Boston was in control from the start although they didn't really open it up until the second half. The Celts outscored the Pistons 24-22 in the first quarter and led 50-43 at halftime. A big third quarter (36-21) allowed Doc Rivers to not play the starters more than 29 minutes (which is big for such an old group). Detroit took the fourth (21-10) but who cares?

Boston shot much better than Detroit (52.2% to 43.0), made four more 3-pointers (7-3), had seven more assists (25-18), six more blocks (6-0) and six more points in the paint (11-5).

Up next for the C's, a home-and-home with the Washington Wizards on Sunday in DC and Monday in Boston. The Wizards (0-3) are still awful but they're young and athletic so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they give the Celtics trouble in at least one of those games.

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Your mom and grandma's favorite Celtic helps the team wake up and beat the Pistons

As they sleepwalked through a meaningless game vs. the Detroit Pistons last night at the TD Garden, it was obvious that the Boston Celtics needed a spark.

38-year-old Shaquille O'Neal was the unlikely force behind a strong fourth quarter (28-21) to help the Celts overcome an eight-point deficit and win 86-82.

Kevin Garnett (11 points, 6 rebounds) looked like the rusty player who just came back from an injury, the expected letdown after his performance on Monday vs. the Orlando Magic-a much bigger game against a fellow contender.

Paul Pierce (game-high 22 points) was the only Celtic (32-9) that really seemed to be focused that is until Shaq carried the team on his broad shoulders in the fourth quarter.

I'll admit that when Boston picked up Shaq in the off-season, I figured it was nothing more than a heady PR move but I've been pleasantly surprised. When he plays (a big if), he has been unselfish and brought some inside presence that they've desperately needed with Kendrick Perkins, Jermaine O'Neal and KG out at various times.

Last night was Shaq's best game for the Celts. He was diving on the court for loose balls, blocking shots (2), stealing the ball (3) and posting a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Ray Allen was held to seven points although as he usually does, he made a dagger long 2-pointer that was the biggest shot of the game. Rajon Rondo was also limited to six points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Glen Davis had 11 points and six rebounds for the bench which was short-handed after Marquis Daniels left in the second quarter with a sprained ankle.

Detroit (15-27) came in on a three-game winning streak but let's be honest: they're a complete mess. Richard Hamilton is due to be traded but right now he's rotting on the bench and getting DNPs.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 15 points, Greg Monroe (9 rebounds) and Tayshaun Prince added 13 points apiece, Charlie Villanueva had 11 points and Ben Gordon notched 10 points.

Try not to fall asleep as I describe this borefest. The teams were tied at 22 after one quarter and Detroit was up 45-42 at halftime. Both only managed 16 points in an ugly third quarter before the Cs finally decided to play for a few minutes in the fourth.

Boston shot 44.7% to Detroit's 41.9%. They each hit four 3-pointers and the Pistons made two more free throws (16-14). The Celts pulled down 13 more rebounds (47-34) while the Pistons had four more steals (9-5), one more block (6-5) and four less turnovers (17-13). Detroit had three more fast break points (12-9) but thanks to Shaq, the Celts had eight more points in the paint (50-42).

Things figure to get much more interesting and exciting tomorrow night as the Utah Jazz visit the Garden. Former Celtics young gun Al Jefferson has finally found a good team to play on and point guard Deron Williams is arguably the best in the NBA. Should be a good one, wish I was going!