Boston Celtics: Is it Panic Time for the Green and White?
The first thing that seems to come to mind when thinking about the Boston Celtics’ recent struggles is the question everyone seems to ask. Is it because the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder?
On March 9, the Los Angeles Clippers snapped the Celtics’ five-game winning streak in Boston. Since that game, it’s only gotten worse. The Boston Celtics have played 13 games and have gone 6-7 during that stretch.
The Perkins trade doesn’t seem to be the problem. At least not on paper. Perkins’s role was to be nasty and play defense; he wasn’t there to score.
During the Celtics’ recent woes, defense hasn’t seemed to contribute to that 6-7 record. Scoring points has been a problem. They managed to score more than their average 96.6 points per game only two times during their recent collapse.
On defense, the Celtics give up an NBA-best 90.9 points per game. The Celtics have stayed well below that average, holding opponents to 86.5 points per game during the recent slide.
There can be many reasons that explain why the Celtics have been playing so bad as of late. Maybe part of it is emotional. It has been well documented that the team had a really close bond with Perkins, including Celtics coach Doc Rivers. Winning five games out of six after the trade seems to go against that way of thinking.
One would think the effects of the trade would come sooner rather than later.
Celtics fans need to remember that Perkins isn’t the only important player the Celtics have lost since the Perkins trade. Semih Erden and Nate Robinson were traded as well.
With Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal out, Erden was starting to find his way as a solid option at center. Robinson was a great spark off the bench, a spark that the team seems to be missing with Delonte West trying to work his way back from injuries.
Maybe it’s not so much the absence of Perkins that has the Boston Celtics in a funk, but maybe it’s finding ways to make the new pieces fit that has them a bit discombobulated.
Another theory to explain the bad play is that Rondo has been playing with an injury, but 22 points in two of his last three games might dismiss that theory. Rondo played well in all three of those games and they lost two of those games despite his efforts.
Why the Celtics have been playing so bad might be explained with just one word: boredom. The Celtics may be tired of the grind of an 82-game season and are ready to get to the playoffs and defend their Eastern Conference crown.
It has been noted ad nauseum that the Celtics were 27-27 to finish last season; as repetitive as it may be, it is definitely worth bringing up. The C’s seemed to trot, not sprint, into the playoffs and were a fourth seed, and we all know what happened next.
Is it panic time for the Celtic faithful? The Los Angeles Lakers finished last season winning a mere four games out of 10 and won the championship. Let’s not look too deep into what has happened lately and just sit back and watch what the Celtics do when its time to “win or go home” (as TNT would put it).
