Boston Celics Get Much Needed Rest Before Defending Champion Mavs Come to Town

The Celtics snapped their four-game winning streak and lost their first game at home this season, 87-74 to the Pacers. There certainly is cause for concern because so far this season the Celtics, like the Patriots, have failed to beat a team over .500. If the Celtics want to have a chance to win a championship this season, they will likely have to play the Heat, Knicks or Pacers in the playoffs.

Although this last loss to the Pacers was bad, their is a chance to breathe a sigh of relief now that it is over. The Celtics now have four days off until the defending champion Dallas Mavericks come to Beantown.

Even though the Mavericks have also struggled so far this season, they are still the defending champions and a much better test for the Celtics than a team like the Nets or Pistons.

In these four days off, the Celtics will not only get healthier (Wilcox, Pierce and Allen will be able to get back to full health and Mikael Pietrus will hopefully be ready to make his debut against the Mavs), but they will also get much-needed practice time.

The Celtics have been unable to practice much since training camp, which has hurt them so far this season. New players like Keyon Dooling, Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox need all the practice time they can get to get a better feel for the Celtics system, both on the offensive and defensive side. Pietrus, who has been cleared to participate in certain parts of practice, will now get a chance to become more acquainted with his new team.

I expect the Celtics to come out firing against the Mavs after all of this rest and practice time. At least they should, because this is the longest break the Celtics will get all season.