Memphis Grizzlies Win Raises Questions about Boston Celtics' Future

Surprised that Memphis rolled Boston on the road last night?

I was not.

Memphis went to TD Garden and beat the Celtics and their top-ranked defense, 111-91. It was one of those games that was not as close as it seemed.

In fact, Boston was never close.

They scored 12 points in the first quarter and were down by more than 20 at the half.

Surprised? You should not be.

Memphis is a good team in a tough Western Conference. If a team takes them lightly, they can blow you out at home or on the road.

Frankly, the loss says more about the Celtics than the Grizzlies. There are a lot of questions being raised about Boston.

"Because we couldn’t make shots, you could see us not running back on defense, getting down, and you know that’s the one disappointing thing about tonight and other games, is right now, our offense—our lack of offense—is dictating how we play defense," Boston coach Doc Rivers said to Boston.com. "And that’s disappointing.”

Are the Celtics simply too old to make another run for the NBA title?

Forget the NBA title, are they too old to compete with Orlando and Cleveland to make it out of the Western Conference?

Or, did they simply mail it in against a team that people still view as inferior?

You know that Celtics fans are asking themselves these questions. 

On Wednesday night, a younger team took them to school. I admit I do not watch a ton of Celtics basketball, but there is a fine line between experience and "old legs."

When Memphis bench players Sam Young (11 points) and Marcus Williams (16 points) get to double figures, the opposition is not putting up a fight.

I do not know if the loss was a result of "old legs" but clearly, the boos from their own crowd is a bad sign.

“Yeah it surprises me," Boston forward Paul Pierce said to Boston.com.

"You come out on your home court, get this kind of loss, and get booed by your home court I haven’t been on a court where we’ve been booed...it’s been a couple times this year. It’s been about five or six years since I’ve seen that. We’re still 17 games over .500. All the fans want is a constant effort night in and night out. I think we gotta be more consistent with that regardless of if we win or lose.”

I have a feeling those boos will only get louder as they face teams like Cleveland, Orlando, and Atlanta down the stretch.

But we will see if these old dogs can still hunt.