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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If the Playoffs Started Today: The Celtics Would Be In & the Bruins Would Be Out, Wait What?

There are 12 games left in the 2014-15 regular season, but somehow the Celtics (31-39 overall, 13-22 away) have hung around long enough to put themselves in a good position to make the postseason. Boston won 110-91 tonight at Barclays Center vs. Brooklyn (29-40 overall, 12-20 home) to take a 1.5 games lead on the hosts. The C's picked the perfect time to snap their three-game losing streak since Charlotte and Indiana both also lost. Boston went up half a game on Charlotte and one game on Indiana for the eighth-seed in the Eastern Conference.

Evan Turner was the catalyst in the victory with his second triple-double (19 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) as a Celtic. It was a very balanced night of scoring for Boston as six guys scored in double-figures. Avery Bradley led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds while Tyler Zeller had 18 points and seven rebounds then Brandon Bass notched 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Other than Turner, the story of the game for the C's was Kelly Olynyk's 18 points and five rebounds off the bench. He had been in a major shooting slump so it was nice to see him hit three of the five 3-pointers that he attempted. Jonas Jerebko had 10 points and six rebounds with Jae Crowder putting up nine points and five rebounds. Not surprisingly with those numbers, Boston's bench outscored Brooklyn's 39-28.

The Nets were led by Brook Lopez's game-high 31 points. There with a couple problems with that though since seven (!) different Celtics had more rebounds than him (4). Furthermore, only two other Nets scored in double-figures: Thaddeus Young (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Deron Williams (10 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds). Lopez had a great night but clearly just dumping the ball down to him mostly on the low post meant that nobody else on Brooklyn could really get going or even touch the ball.

Brooklyn led 28-23 after the first quarter but then Boston slowly took over. The Celtics outscored the Nets by 10 (31-21) in the second quarter to take a 54-49 lead into the break. Despite playing their second game of a back-to-back, the Celts looked like the fresher team as they took the third quarter (29-25) and truthfully the Nets might have given up in the fourth (27-17).

The Celtics shot 15.1% better from the field (51.1%-36%), hit five more 3-pointers (6-1) and dished out 10 more assists than the Nets (25-15). Boston wrapped up the season series with Brooklyn 3-1 (their only loss was by 2 points the day after Christmas).

Up next, the C's take on the Heat (32-37) on Wednesday (7:30, CSN) at TD Garden. Miami is ahead of Boston by 1.5 games but that will change shortly as the Heat travel to Milwaukee tomorrow night before coming to Boston. So if they lose to the Bucks, a Celtics win vs. Miami would leave them tied for seventh-place in the East.

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Ultimate Trolling: The Celtics Are Actually Going to Make the Playoffs This Season, Aren't They?

At this point, I would sound like an idiot to ignore the truth that jumps off the screen anytime you tune in: Isaiah Thomas (28 points, 7 assists) has brought so much life to the Celtics that now it looks likely that they'll make the playoffs this season. Boston (23-33 overall, 14-15 home) beat Charlotte (23-33 overall, 10-17 away) 106-98 tonight at TD Garden. That leaves the two teams tied with Brooklyn, mere percentage points behind Indiana (24-34) who is barely hanging onto the eighth spot in the dogshit Eastern Conference.

All season long, I've bitched and complained when the Celtics have won so let me get one thing straight: I'm not changing my tune. It still helps them more to lose and miss out on the postseason this spring but then again, they are unlikely to get a top pick (in a weak draft) since they are so many teams dedicated to tanking so how could it hurt to give head coach Brad Stevens not to mention all these young, inexperienced players a little taste of the playoffs before they get swept by the Hawks, Raptors, Bulls or Cavaliers?

Boston's bench outscored its starters 60-46 led by Thomas and Jonas Jerebko (16 points, 10 rebounds) who has to be the best Swedish basketball player that I've ever seen. Their other recent acquisition Jae Crowder added 14 points and six rebounds while proving to be a versatile defender able to guard all different size guys. Avery Bradley had 19 points and five rebounds including two putback dunks that sealed it. Marcus Smart (10 points) was the only other Celtics starter to score in double-figures.

The Hornets still have some good players but they are lost right now without former UConn star point guard Kemba Walker. Mo Williams had a game-high 31 points and seven rebounds which sounds great but he took 23 shots and only contributed four assists (with three turnovers). Former Celtic Al Jefferson was held in check (14 points, 8 rebounds), Gerald Henderson added 14 points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) while Tyler's (7 points, 9 rebounds) little brother Cody Zeller notched 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

The Celtics were up 27-21 after the first quarter but the Hornets pulled ahead 49-45 by halftime. Charlotte increased its lead to six going into the fourth (75-69) but Boston scored a season-high 37 points in the final frame and held their opponents to 23.

For the game, Boston hit four more 3-pointers (14-10), dished out five more assists (24-19), scored nine more fast break points (19-10), 10 more points in the paint (38-28) and 13 more points off turnovers (21-8). Charlotte had twice as many turnovers (16-8) as Boston which ultimately killed them.

Sunday night (6, CSN) at the Garden should be fun as the Celtics welcome the best team in the NBA-the Warriors (45-11)-to town. I give Boston a better chance to win than you'd probably expect since that will be Golden State's fifth stop on a six-game road trip (granted they humiliated Toronto 113-89 this evening) and also the fact that the C's nearly shocked them in Golden State a month ago (114-111 loss on Jan. 25). I never thought I'd say this during the Celtics' 2014-15 season but I'm actually really looking forward to that matchup.

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Celtics Trade for Isaiah Thomas, The Shorter Non-Evil One That is Nate Robinson 2.0

The 2015 NBA Trade Deadline came and went today with Boston making a sneaky big move and also a minor salary dump. The Celtics traded shooting guard Marcus Thornton (8.9 points per game) and Cleveland's 2016 first-round pick (sure to be at the end) to the Suns for point guard Isaiah Thomas (15.2 points, 3.7 assists per game). Small forward Tayshaun Prince (7.6 points per game) was sent back to Detroit (lucky him) for Swedish power forward Jonas Jerebko and Italian small forward Luigi Datome (he is sure to be a cult favorite in the North End).

The fact that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge could flip the aging Thornton (who will be a free agent this summer) for Thomas is pretty remarkable. He's very undersized (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) but the former University of Washington star has made a name for himself after only three years in the NBA. Take it with a mountain of salt since it happened in Sacramento but last season in 34.7 minutes per game Thomas averaged 20.3 points, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 72 contests (54 starts). Phoenix made the curious decision to try and play three point guards together this season (Thomas, Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic) with mixed results-9th place in the loaded Western Conference. With all the moves they made today, the Suns are left with Bledsoe and now Brandon Knight after Dragic was shipped to Miami.

I'm not going to worry too much about Jerebko and Datome since who knows if either guy will ever put on a Celtics uniform. For what it's worth, (my name is) Jonas averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while Luigi averaged 3.7 points per game in very limited action. It got to the point recently where Detroit (21-33) had basically phased them both out of the rotation (well not like Datome was ever in that anyway) entirely so what else has to be said?

Boston's (20-31) first game after the All-Star break ironically enough is in Sacramento (18-34) tomorrow night (10, CSN). Through the magic of the god-awful Eastern Conference, the Celts are only 1.5 games behind Miami (22-30) for eighth-place. If you are like me and you see absolutely no point for them to make the playoffs this season, we got some good news late tonight as the team announced that Jared Sullinger is out indefinitely with a foot injury. It is not surprising that a fat guy like him seems to break down every year but he is one of their best players that they have to build around so yikes.

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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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The Nate Robinson trade pays off

These are desperate times for the Boston Celtics since no win as guaranteed (see: losing to New Jersey over the weekend at home).

Therefore last night's 105-100 win in Detroit isn't exactly parade worthy but still, the hopeless Pistons did beat the Celtics a few weeks ago on the same court.

Nate Robinson had his best game so far for the Celts as he scored 14 points (including 4 3-pointers) in 15 minutes. That's exactly the type of instant offense off the bench Boston needs. And if you think Eddie House, Bill Walker or J.R. Giddens would have provided it this season as consistently, well I feel bad for you son.

It was a grimy game and Boston (37-21) did everything they could to keep Detroit (21-39) in it but thankfully the C's made a couple plays in crunch time to seal it.

Ray Allen led the Celts with 18 points, Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 11 assists, Kevin Garnett scored 14 and grabbed nine rebounds while Rasheed Wallace (starting for a sick Kendrick Perkins) had 10 points. Glen Davis added 12 points off the bench.

The Pistons were a dominant team in the last decade but now they're in the tricky process of rebuilding while still giving some fading stars big minutes.

Jonas Jerebko led the Pistons with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Richard Hamilton (7 assists) and Tayshaun Prince both had 15 points and Rodney Stuckey, the franchise building block, was held to 13 points.

It was tied at 25 after the first quarter and Boston held a slim 55-52 halftime lead. Detroit went ahead 75-72 going into the fourth but the C's impressively closed it 33-25.

They'll try to build on that momentum as the Charlotte Bobcats come to the TD Garden this evening for what should be another closer than it should be contest.