The Green Mileage: Celtics' Big Three Playing Well...But Often

While handing the Knicks their worst loss since 1980 on Thursday night, the Celtics had a rare opportunity to rest their Big Three.

From the bench, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen cheered their teammates, taunted their opponents, and generally basked in the glow of their own performance.

As it stands, it's clear that the Celtics—with their three new stars—can compete with any team in the NBA.

The problem is that there’s little chance the Big Three will make it to the playoffs intact given the kind of minutes they're playing.

Garnett, a well-worn 12-year vet, is logging 37.1 MPG. Pierce, at 30, is playing 38.4 MPG, and Allen, whose repaired ankles are already showing signs of wear, sees 39.4 MPG. 

At first glance these numbers may not seem very alarming—after all, Allen Iverson has managed 40-plus minutes his entire career.

But how many NBA titles has Iverson won?

Compare the  Boston trio’s minutes to those of recent championship players of similar age, and the results are a bit more worrying.

In 2003-04, Detroit won the Larry O'Brien Trophy while playing a 30-year-old Rasheed Wallace 30 MPG. Ben Wallace saw 38 MPG—but he didn’t get major minutes until later in his career, and even then was a one-way player. 

Miami won the championship in 2005-06 behind a spry Dwyane Wade, but the Heat's elder statesmen—Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker, and Gary Payton—all played 30 MPG or less.

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan, who is 31 this season, hasn’t played over 36.5 MPG since he was 26. Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen played less than 32 MPG during San Antonio’s recent three-title stretch.

The Big Three's minutes have come as the Celtics have outscored opponents by an average of 14 points per game—better than the 72-win 1995-96 Bulls. At this point, there's little need to put unnecessary mileage on those six aging knees.

For Boston’s sake, I hope Doc Rivers shows more confidence in his bench—even at the expense of some regular-season wins. Those spare minutes will come in handy down the stretch...when the games really matter.

The way things are going, though, the forecast doesn’t look so good for June. If the Celtics can sprint their way to the title, they'll certainly be the exception to the rule.