Boston Celtics: 'Another Man Down, I Repeat, We Have Another Man Down'

Just when I was about to finish my first draft of "With Delonte Returning Soon And Perk Here, The C's Will Finally be in Full Force", Shaquille "The Big Shamrock" O’Neal's foot began nagging him.

I changed up my article a bit, squeezing in that Shaq's bothering Achilles tendon may see some games missed.

Then, the Magic game. I cringed when Marquis Daniels went down. It did not look good.

So Rondo showed up huge to give the Celtics a lead that they would extend, preventing another unnecessary grind-out.

Post-game. The win was big, but the injury of Marquis was bigger. With much relief and some annoyance, the injury was not season ending but he is out for two months. This is also when I found out that Shaq may be out until after the All-Star game. Throw in Jermain O'Neal, who finally had his knee operated on and is out for six to eight weeks.

Anyway, the only remaining key bench players are Glen Davis, a struggling Nate Robinson and perhaps the only legitimate backup center, Semih Erden, who is still very raw.

Oh, and Avery Bradley is returning, who has been lighting up the scoreboard in the D-League, but at a high turnover rate and a low field goal percentage. While Von Wafer, Luke Harangody and Bradley will probably see a bit more minutes—the latter two will likely be seeing less meaningful minutes and none of the three will be contributing too much, probably giving a little defense.

Things will be tough with the Lakers and the Heat coming one after the other. At least Delonte is returning February 22nd, waking up the inner monster of Nate Robinson. And the Celtics will finally be healthy in two months.

Or should I stop speculating?