The NBA Trade Deadline is Danny Ainge's favorite day of the year

Just like any other normal day, I went to Planet Fitness this afternoon. Thinking that with very few tradeable assets and a true championship contender roster (when healthy) the Celtics wouldn't make much noise before the trade deadline (3pm today) proved to be one of my worst predictions in a while.

In a series of three separate moves, the Celts shipped away five players and got only two in return. Wait what?

At first blush, seeing Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson go to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, cash and the Clippers 2012 first round pick was shocking and I have to say that I didn't like it. However, upon further review I feel like you have to trust Ainge since he's been able to make other solid (albeit not as big) deals before and after (buyouts) the trade deadline in past seasons.

In addition, Luke Harangody and Semih Erden were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2013 second round pick. And finally, Marquis Daniels (who probably won't play this season due to his spinal injury) was sent to the Sacramento Kings for cash considerations and a protected second round pick in 2017 (haha really).

Whew and I thought the Bruins were the ones making moves before their trade deadline (next Monday).

Perkins is by far the biggest loss for Boston. He's their defensive stopper who's capable of guarding Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, etc. It makes you scratch your head since now the Cs will have to rely on Shaq or Jermaine O'Neal (don't hold your breath on that) along with Krstic who's not known for his defense.

For the time being, they called up Chris Johnson (2nd year 6-11 center from LSU) from the D-League since they only had eight players in Denver for their game vs. the Nuggets.

You always want to get the best player in a trade, not giving him up and it's obvious that in Jeff Green, the Celtics did so. He was drafted by Boston with the fifth pick in 2007 but then quickly shipped to Seattle for Ray Allen. We all know how that story ended up.

Green is young (24), big (6-9) and versatile. This was a move with the future in mind, a tough balance when you're trying to get Banner 18 this season. As my friend said, having Rondo and Green in a few years is much better than just Rondo and Perk. Plus, Perk's contract was going to be up after this season and I have to assume that the Celtics tried to re-sign him but couldn't so they wanted to get something in return while they could.

Losing Robinson isn't a big deal. Aside from a few playoff games last season, he never really had any consistent play. He's fun to watch but if they made a deal, you knew he would be involved. I'm also bummed to see Erden and Harangody go since they're both young players who could turn out pretty good but again, who else could they trade?

Daniels might still return next season. With two roster spots left, what does Ainge do? Troy Murphy, Leon Powe, James Posey and Richard Hamilton are names that have all been mentioned for buyouts. Murphy seems most likely and he would be a good fit: he averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds last season so he can't be completely washed up. Who knows how much Powe or Posey have left? Rip can still play but I don't see how Boston can afford him.

Got all that? It's going to take some time to digest these moves but one thing's for sure: Danny Ainge has the biggest balls in the world. The anti-Peter Chiarelli if you will. Rather than hemming or hawing for years about minor players, Ainge completely surprises you. Let's hope the Mormon is right again.

We'll miss you Perk.

John Stockton and his short shorts must be rolling over in his grave

More so than any other professional sport, the NBA is prone to having teams basically no-show on the second end of back-to-back games or at the finish of a long road trip.

This was definitely the case last night as the anticipated battle between Deron Williams (5 points, 6 assists, 4 fouls) and Rajon Rondo (4 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds) never materialized and consequently neither did the game really as Boston rolled over Utah 110-86 at the TD Garden.

The sad part about it is the Jazz (27-16) are a very good team but the Celtics (33-9) will only get one more shot at them in the regular season. Unfortunate.

Boston won its fifth in a row thanks to some balanced scoring. Kevin Garnett had a game-high 21 points and Paul Pierce scored 20. Glen Davis (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Semih Erden (career-high 14 points, 7 rebounds) were great off the bench and Ray Allen scored 11 points.

The only bad news for the Cs was that Shaquille O'Neal got hurt in the first quarter (hip) and didn't return. He's expected to miss the next few games.

Overall, Boston's bench was spectacular, scoring what has to be a season-high with 52 points and giving the starters plenty of rest. Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson scored eight points apiece and Von Wafer had seven points.

For Utah, Earl Watson (12 points) was their high-scorer so that's pretty much all you need to know about the game. Williams was in foul trouble immediately with three in the first half and as a result, his team basically laid down and died without him.

Andrei Kirilenko (sporting a new Eurotrash 'do, no more flat top) had 11 points and Paul Millsap added 11 points. Babyface Gordon Heyward-who should have stayed at Butler-scored 11 off the bench.

Boston led 30-19 after one quarter and 59-41 at halftime. The Celts won each quarter: closing it out in the third (26-22) and the fourth (25-23).

For the game, the Cs shot 55.2% to 40.0% for the Jazz. Boston had five more 3-pointers (9-4) and made one more free throw (27-26). Rebounds were even at 34 but thanks to Rondo, Boston had 12 more assists (31-19). The Celts also made nine more steals (15-6) while Utah had one more block (6-5). The Jazz had five more turnovers (21-16), fast break points were even (17-17) and Boston had 12 more points in the paint (44-32).

The Celts travel to Washington DC tonight to take on the Wizards. With rookie point guard John Wall, Washington is decent at home. Still even in a back-to-back, this is a game Boston should always win.

Without Tyreke Evans, the Sacramento Kings might as well fold

Since I didn't have to work last night (thanks snowpocalypse), it was the first time in ages (outside of attending) that I was able to watch a Boston Celtics game from start to finish. My usual routine of catching the game on DVR later that night or the next morning wasn't necessary.

I can't say that it was a classic or particularly memorable contest since the Sacramento Kings came to the TD Garden without star point guard Tyreke Evans in the lineup. Kevin Garnett is still out but it didn't matter as the Celtics (29-9) rolled to an easy 119-95 victory.

Paul Pierce had 25 points in 27 minutes, Ray Allen had 14 points, Rajon Rondo posted 10 points and 13 assists and Glen Davis scored 12 points but the story was the bench which got ample minutes.

For the first time I can ever remember, four subs scored in double-figures. Nate Robinson finally had a good shooting night with 16 points, Von Wafer and Marquis Daniels had 12 points while Semih Erden dusted off the cobwebs and notched 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Kings (8-28) were led by sub Carl Landry (17 points), no idea why he doesn't start. Beno Udrih had 16 points while Samuel Dalembert scored 12 points and Eugene Jeter notched 10 points.

This one was close in the first half but there was never any doubt that Sacramento would fade at some point. Boston was up 28-22 after one quarter and 57-49 at halftime.

The Celts outscored the Kings 33-18 in the third quarter and 29-28 in the fourth quarter.

Both teams shot well: Boston 52.1% and Sacramento 51.4%. The Cs made a season-high 12 3-pointers (10 more than the Kings) but Sacramento made 14 more free throws (21-7). Boston had one more rebound (38-37) and ten more assists (29-19). Nine more steals (16-7) led to easy buckets for the Celtics while the Kings had twice as many blocks (6-3). It's completely predictable that a young, bad team had more turnovers (23-14) and the Celts had 14 more points in the paint (56-42).

Boston will try to get a win streak started tomorrow night as they host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Celtics typically own the Bobcats but Charlotte has been playing well since head coach Larry Brown left and Paul Silas took over.

The Boston Celtics will beat you and you will do nothing about it

Sitting at the TD Garden last night with my girlfriend as the Boston Celtics took on the Atlanta Hawks, there was only one thing to say after Boston's balanced 102-90 win: this team is a machine.

With Rajon Rondo out for a few weeks nursing his ankle injury, Nate Robinson (14 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) and Paul Pierce (15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) took over ball-handling duties and did a fine job as the Celts (21-4) won their 12th straight.

Clearly, not having Rondo for a prolonged period of time is not a recipe for success but this squad has more depth than they did two years ago or last year and most importantly, Kevin Garnett (17 points, 14 rebounds) is back to being the Big Ticket and not another washed up veteran.

Ray Allen added 18 points and five assists, Semih Erden scored 10 points (as Shaq took another night off) and Glen Davis - Mr. Sixth Man of the Year - notched 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

When Von Wafer exited with a back injury, the Celtics were left with nine healthy players. Yikes. That meant some run for Avery Bradley, who got abused repeatedly by Jeff Teague (18 points) and Luke Harangody, who did hit two jumpers.

The Hawks (16-11) hung around for awhile but with two of their studs - Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford - out and Josh Smith (1 point in 34 minutes) looking like Ben Wallace's dad, they were bound to fail.

Marvin Williams had a career-high 26 points for Atlanta, Mike Bibby had 11 points and Zaza Pachulia was the only other guy in double-figures with 10 points which is always a good sign.

Boston was up 22-20 after one quarter and 44-43 at halftime. It only took one real run in the third quarter (31-26) for the Celtics to build enough of a lead to hang on. They also played well in the fourth quarter (27-21).

For the game, both teams shot at a high percentage (Boston 53.0% to Atlanta's 50.0%). The Cs had three more 3-pointers (6-3) but the Hawks made way more free throws (19-8) and four more rebounds (37-33). Boston won because of their passing (28-16 in assists), two more steals (12-10) and six less turnovers (18-12). A 50-36 points in the paint advantage also helped their cause.

The Celts will try and get a little more healthy (can't believe I have to worry about Wafer) before they host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon.

A guy that peed on a towel, a guy that got stabbed in his calf and a Turk

It was a busy week so I only realized just now that I hadn't written anything about the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Coming off an NBA title, Boston had the last pick of the first round (#30) and the second round (#60). Fittingly, the C's basically got three guys with ability that could pan out or could do nothing. I guess you have to expect that when you're drafting so low.

With its first pick, Boston selected guard J.R. Giddens from New Mexico. The Mountain West Conference co-player of the year this past season (his senior year), the 6-foot-5, 208 pound Giddens averaged 16.3 points, 8.8 rebounds (which led the league), 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks.

Giddens has plenty of talent as his numbers attest. He actually started his college career at Kansas-where he was on the Big 12 All-Freshman team-before transferring to New Mexico. He was booted out of KU after getting into a fight at a club where he was stabbed in his calf (so Paul Pierce and Giddens have at least two things in common).

Obviously, Giddens will have to mature as he tries to make the NBA but with Ray Allen not getting any younger and James Posey possibly leaving in free agency, Giddens could find a role as a scorer off the bench.

The Celts traded cash for the Wizards' 47th pick (Bill Walker). 6-foot-6 and a solid 235 pounds, if healthy Walker could be a steal. He tore his ACL his freshman season at Kansas State and redshirted. This past season, he teamed up with Michael Beasley (you might have heard of him) to create one of the most explosive duos in college hoops. He also memorably pissed on a towel on the bench during a game. Really, just look at the picture below.

Walker averaged 16.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists. With his size and speed on the open floor, he is a prototypical NBA small forward. Assuming that he continues to avoid the operating table. Walker has been a household name since high school as he played with O.J. Mayo (might have heard of him too) in high school (imagine that).

It was a low-risk move for Boston that could reap big rewards. You gotta believe that Walker will be motivated to show the talent that made him such a hyped recruit.

Finally, with the last pick the Celtics selected Turkish center Semih Erden. He's 7-foot-1 and 240 pounds but I won't pretend that I'd ever heard of him nor seen him play basketball. Who do I look like, Chad Ford? I'll be shocked if the guy 1) comes to the US, 2) survives the summer league and training camp and 3) is on the roster in the next three seasons.