Things Are Not Going Well When This Goon Drops 29 Points In Your Eyeball

I'm really excited for the Celtics' regular season to begin, this preseason seems like it will never end. What's that? There are only eight games left now before the playoffs? Oh. Like an old person with dementia, it's hard to remember what month it is when you watch these pointless games. Tonight, Boston lost 110-100 to Minnesota at the Target Center as Paul Pierce (personal reasons) and Kevin Garnett (left ankle) sat out.

Showing how much fake life this entailed, Nikola Pekovic bullied his way inside to a game-high 29 points and five rebounds for Minnesota (27-46, 18-19 home). Andrei Kirilenko added 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, Derrick Williams had 11 points and three blocks while Ricky Rubio dished out 10 assists as only he can. Dante Cunningham went wild off the bench with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks plus Northeastern's J.J. Barea tossed in 11 points with seven assists.

Boston (38-36, 13-25) actually hung around for much longer than we could have expected thanks to Avery Bradley (19 points), Brandon Bass (13 points, 6 rebounds) and Jeff Green (10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists). The bench was great: Terrence Williams (14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) had his best game as a Celtic, Jason Terry scored 14 points and Jordan Crawford put up 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

After five games in seven days, the shorthanded Celts limp home to face another miserable team-the Pistons (25-50, 4th in Central Division) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., CSN) at TD Garden. It has the potential to be one of the real horrorshow games of the season which is saying something given how the last few weeks have unfolded for the Celtics.

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Danny Ainge Can't Get Enough Of NBA Busts Plying Their Trade In China

Not that anyone besides me, a few Celtics beat writers, ball washers, Green teamers and team officials noticed but the past few weeks that Boston tried to sign D.J. White was one of the more bizarre things I can recall in recent Celtics history. Mercifully, that ended today as White was at practice and signed a 10-day contract with Boston after his clearance paperwork from China finally arrived after over a week of waiting.

White, the former Indiana star, was a first round pick (29th overall) of Detroit in 2008. He was traded to Oklahoma City and played parts of three seasons there before being traded to Charlotte. He spent 1.5 years in NBA purgatory (the Bobcats) then retreated to the Shanghai Sharks this season when he couldn't find an NBA deal. In other words, he followed a similar path to swingman Terrence Williams who was also playing in China before the Celts signed him before the trade deadline last week.

There is no reason to expect anything from White. He has averaged 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in his NBA career. His role will be as a big body (6-foot-9, 235 pounds) off the bench when Chris Wilcox or Brandon Bass get in foul trouble. Williams has actually looked decent in the few minutes he's played with the Celtics, we'll see if White can have even that amount of impact.

Getting White means that Boston has 12 healthy players, including Fab Melo, with Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger out for the rest of the season. Jordan Crawford, Williams and White were their only acquisitions right before and after the trade deadline this season as Danny Ainge chose to stick with his old cast for one more playoff run (fingers crossed).

Not that he'll probably play but White apparently will be available tomorrow night when the Celtics host the Warriors (7:30 p.m., CSN).

UPDATE 3/1: This morning, the Celtics signed forward/center Shavlik Randolph (the former Duke star was also playing in China) to a 10-day contract while they reassigned rookie center Fab Melo to the Maine Red Claws (D-League).

In addition, the Celts signed Terrence Williams for the rest of the season along with next year. A nice reward for a guy with serious promise in the right situation.

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Who Needs Kevin Garnett? Celtics Embarrass Suns 113-88 in Phoenix

Since they were facing the worst team in the Western Conference, the Celtics decided to make it a little harder on themselves by giving Kevin Garnett the night off. It didn't matter at all though as Boston (29-26, 9-17 away) rolled over Phoenix (18-38, 12-14 home) 113-88 tonight at US Airways Center. The C's finally recorded a road win this season against a team from the West, snapping an ugly 0-7 start.

Jeff Green was the story as he had a career-high (with Boston) 31 points, seven rebounds, five blocks, four assists and two blocks. Anybody left wondering if he could play or not? The Celts jumped out to a 13-0 lead to begin the contest and they never looked back, outscoring the Suns in every quarter and opening up as much as a 30-point advantage.

Avery Bradley was the only other starter in double-figures with 13 points and four steals. Chris Wilcox (14 points, 8 rebounds) had his best game of the season, Jason Terry scored 13 points, Jordan Crawford's Celtics debut was very positive (10 points) while Terrence Williams looked comfortable (9 points) in his second game with Boston.

Good luck trying to figure out what Phoenix is doing or who they're currently building around, that team is a disaster. Goran Dragic (19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) and Marcin Gortat (10 points, 6 rebounds) are their only above average players. Markieff Morris added 11 points off the bench.

KG will return on Sunday (9 p.m., CSN) as the C's visit the Blazers (25-30, 4th Northwest Division). I wish it wasn't at the same time as The Oscars but I guess it gives us something to flip to during commercials and when Seth MacFarlane is really bombing. Boston wraps up their five-game post-All Star Game road trip with a back-to-back in Portland then Utah. They should beat the Blazers (who have lost 7 in a row) but the Jazz are another story. Utah is one of the toughest places to play in the NBA (Mormon power!) and the C's figure to be gassed by then.

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