The contemporary significance of tonight’s Pistons-Celtics match-up is well documented. For those geezers over 25, it also marks a vivid Back to the Future ride to the late 80s-early 90s when Detroit starred as the C’s number one rival  (if only because Celtic Finals appearances against the Lakers were drying up).  Aside from the unstable, atomic Tar Heel Rasheed Wallace, the present day face-off lacks the controversial personalities of the old rivalry.  We have no Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Robert "Rabbit Punch" Parish, Kevin McHale, or Danny Ainge to be the lightening rod of ire; even that era’s superstars, Larry and Isiah had qualities sure to irritate the opposing fanbase.  The current rivalry also has a short history, with Ainge conjuring up a contender with such improbable alacrity that one fears Danny’s soul may now be owned by a resident of the Netherworld.  Nevertheless, the current rivalry is nothing to scoff at. With Pistons and Celtics the two clear-cut Eastern Conference contenders -  well - charge up the flux capacitor and have at it for the old and the new guard!

First Quarter

Perhaps someone should have gotten Laimbeer and Mahorn off the WNBA sidelines, because the Pistons started off dreadfully.   They missed their first six field goal attempts, while the Celtics opened with a couple of Garnett buckets, a Pierce curl in the lane, and two Rondo specials: a left to right scoop shot high off the glass and a floater in the lane. A Rondo turnover resulted in a breakaway dunk by Richard Hamilton to give the Pistons their first field goal, cutting the Celtics’ early lead to 10-3.  Pierce responded with two free throws and a three-pointer and, at 15-3, Flip Saunders called for mercy with a time-out. 

After the time-out, the Pistons picked up their intensity, with modest gains in effectiveness. The game became more physical and chippy (like old times), to the point where Ray Allen, perhaps the most unlikely provocateur, drew a technical when he responded to Hamilton’s hand-checking with an elbow to Rip’s throat.  The game settled into a slower, more even affair, with Garnett displaying his offensive assertiveness and Rondo going at Billups for a fast break lay-up. Hamilton kept the Pistons afloat. 

If there was a unifying theme in the first quarter, it was Rondo’s refusal to back down from Billups.  The Pistons clearly looked to isolate Billups on Rondo and Rondo held his ground, right on Chauncey’s shooting hand (resulting in 1-4 shooting and only two points for Billups). Meanwhile Rondo continued his recent assertiveness on offense, taking seven shot attempts and hitting three for six points in the quarter.  Perhaps Rondo sought out his offense a little too much at times, but with a 23-13 lead at the end of the quarter the results were none too bad.

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What if Antoine Walker had never left the Celtics?  What if he got his long-term extension from Danny in 2003, and was still a part of the Boston landscape today?  First we need to avoid the delusion that Antoine somehow would not have disintegrated just as precipitously (or perhaps worse) than he actually has.  No, he would not be attending Jenny Craig religiously and listening to every sage word that Doc Rivers had to offer. We’re sorry, but any of you who believe that the course of Antoine’s career would have been salvaged by Danny, Doc, Wyc, Celtic tradition, the joy of wearing green, or living in Sudbury, need to examine a highlight reel of his last two years (we know, we know, another 30 seconds out of your life) and then take a big strong breath of reality.

We are not so much interested in how the persistence of ‘Toine would have affected the course of the Celtics, but more how it would have affected CelticsBlog itself (because that’s what’s really important, right?).  As Antoine was always a lightning rod at CBlog, we imagine that he would still have his share of supporters and detractors, but the content would certainly have shifted considerably by now (much as the continental plates shift when Antoine walks from the fridge to the microwave).  Here are 10 possible threads we might be seeing this season:

1. Maybe I’m Drinking the Kool-Aid, but I Think the Cs Can Win 28 games if Gabe Pruitt Plays More

2. How Doc Rivers, PJ Carlesimo, Sam Vincent, and now Rick Carlisle, have Ruined Antoine’s Career

3. If the Cs could Trade Antoine for a Rotting Head of Cabbage, Would It Improve their Basketball IQ?

4. Danny Ainge: What an Idiot for not Trading Antoine to Dallas when he had the Chance

5. Antoine’s Body: More Marlon Brando circa 1992 or Elvis 1976?

6. Why Antoine is Still More Valuable than Pierce

7. Antoine is Stunting Leon Powe’s Development

8. Was Sitting at a Dunkin’ Donuts at 3am and In Walks Antoine – Cool Dude, Bought me a Jelly

9. Can You Still Call Someone a Perennial All-Star When They Have Not Gone in 5 Years?

10. Antoine Just Needs to Score and Rebound More, Defend Better, Turn the Ball Over Less, Take Better Shots, Stop Complaining to Referees and He Will Be Fine

Hard to imagine a reunion game in Boston sports history quite like this: where 40% of the opposing team’s roster was composed of former Boston players, with most having played on our team just the year before.   Perhaps only in post-blockbuster NBA trade world is such an occurrence even possible.  

This game offered up seemingly endless subplots: Al Jefferson, the former Celtic man-in-waiting (who had 39 and 15 Wednesday night against Phoenix), facing off against his trade counterpart and now MVP-in-waiting; the Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Toine dusting off his widening wiggle (former Walker acolytes may want to avert your eyes, it may not be pleasant); the reigning slam dunk champion returning to the site of so many of his turnovers; Ryan Gomes just one game removed from a career-best 35 points against Golden State; a resuscitated Sebastian Telfair (whatever happened to that gun-under-the-seat charge anyway?); and, the bane of those who insure NBA contracts, Theo "Eight Is Enough Games in Two Seasons" Ratliff, sure to be on the sidelines looking natty in his Stern-approved suit. 

First Quarter

"Mismatch" was apparently the secret word for the opening of this game.  The only sight more pathetic than Gomes staring into Kevin Garnett’s Adam’s Apple as Garnett went over him again and again, was Kendrick Perkins trying to stay with Al Jefferson.  Garnett passed, shot, and dunked at will over the seemingly Lilliputian Gomes, while Jefferson left his godson’s papa bewildered in the post to the tune of 8 points in the first 5 minutes.  The Celtics began throwing double and triple teams at Jefferson immediately following the first timeout with the score 17-15 Wolves, shutting Jefferson out for the remainder of the quarter.  Rashad McCants and Telfair picked up the slack and kept the game going back and forth through the remainder of the quarter.  Perkins got some consolation as the Wolves started to enact the cover-everyone-but-Kendrick defense, ending the quarter with 6 points.  Remember the days of intense, relentless Celtic defense earlier this season?  Well those days seemed a distant memory in the opening quarter tonight: the Wolves shoot 63% and finish with a 30-29 edge.

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The 18-2 Celtics welcomed Chairman Yi and his 9-12 Milwaukee Bucks into the Garden this evening.  A touch of suspense was injected into the match-up by the pre-game announcement that Ray Allen would not suit up due to an ankle bruise, and would be replaced in the starting line-up by Tony Allen.  Scott Pollard was also inactive for the game.  Kendrick Perkins, on the other hand, was slated to play despite his recent bed-induced toe injury.  Coming into tonight's game, the Celtics were 11-0 at home; one game away from tying the team's best home start ever.  Would the Ray-less Celtics make history?

First Quarter

The Celtics played a solid yet unspectacular first quarter.  The game started out with a couple of quick changes of possession and then a nice turnaround by Kevin Garnett, immediately followed by a Rondo steal on the return downcourt.  The Celtics were strong throughout the quarter, despite a bit of sag in the middle, and did not seem to be unduly hindered by the substitution of one Allen for another.  However, the team was clearly depending upon Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (Andrew Bogut was about as overmatched trying defend Garnett as anyone has been this season) who were responsible for 17 of 25 Boston points. 

Meanwhile, Milwaukee struggled, racking up 7 turnovers and shooting only 44% in the quarter.  The Bucks had three bad passes leading to loss of possession in the first five minutes, two into the stands and another back across the halfcourt line.  Michael Redd was nowhere to be seen, going scoreless in the quarter.  At the end of the quarter, the Celtics were up 25-21.

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Billy King is dead.  Well, metaphorically dead as the former GM and President of the Philadelphia 76ers.  Tonight his legacy was in full force as the moribund Sixers attempted to show the Celtics that they could keep pace with the varsity, and for a while they did so nobly.  While the timing of King’s dismissal is as mysterious and nonsensical as the majority of his player personnel moves, there is little doubt that a fresh start was in order for this franchise.    King was as good as gone when he traded Allen Iverson for salary equalizers in Andre Miller (a decent point guard, but not a long-range asset) and Joe Smith, as well what became the 21st and 30th picks in 2007 draft. With some draft day movement, the Sixers ended up with Jason Smith and Derrick Byars, and Byars was cut in training camp.  Thus, unless they extract some value for Andre Miller, this trade boils down to Allen Iverson for Jason Smith.  Long live Billy King.

First Quarter

The Sixers started the game strong, matching the Celtics stride for stride. Andre Miller led the charge, abusing Rajon Rondo in every way possible: posting him up, shooting jump shots, and making a back cut underneath the hoop for 10 quick points.  The Celtics, meanwhile, were spreading things around with all five starters scoring. Kendrick Perkins made all his shots, including two nice hooks, for a Celtic high of 8 first quarter points. 

With five minutes left in the quarter and Philly ahead 18-17, Eddie House mercifully replaced Rondo on the court and was greeted by Andre Miller who blew left around him and immediately drew a foul.   Miller then posted House on the right block and spun around his immobile form.  House responded with a finger roll in the lane and a successful three point play. 

At one point in the latter half of the quarter, the Celtics and Sixers combined for 11 straight baskets.  Somewhere Billy King was smiling (maybe) as the Sixers ended the quarter up 32-26, having shot 74% from the field.

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Boston and Charlotte met tonight in a game that turned out to be closer than anyone would have expected.  Boston came into tonight’s game with a record of 10-1, while Charlotte’s was 6-6.  Both teams were on the second game of back-to-backs, and their previous games could not have been more different.  While the Celtics easily dominated the Lakers on Friday night, the Bobcats fell to the surging Orlando Magic.  The Bobcats’ Gerald Wallace was injured during that game and, despite a reportedly clean MRI this afternoon, was pulled from tonight’s lineup just before game time.  For the ever-superstitious Boston fan, these facts all added up to one thing: trouble.

First Quarter

The Bobcats came out feisty and grabbed an early lead sparked by the strong play of Boston College alum Jared Dudley.  This was Dudley’s first NBA start, and he took full advantage of the opportunity.  Dudley made Charlotte’s first two baskets and was in the middle of almost every play.  Raymond Felton also had a strong showing, using his strength to overpower Rondo and get to the hoop, to finish or dish, almost at will.

The Charlotte crowd responded to their team’s strong start with an intensity that could only be described as tepid.  When the prefabricated public address announcer boomed "De-Fense" partway through the quarter, his call was met with silence.  The Celtics unfortunately seemed to be mirroring the energy of the Bobcat crowd, rather than that of the Bobcats. Their play in the first quarter was downright lethargic.

Despite the Celtics’ lifeless performance (possibly influenced by their travel delay and 3am arrival in Charlotte), they did just enough on the offensive end to keep pace with the Bobcats.  Kevin Garnett led the team with six points, followed by Ray Allen’s four.  The Celtics ended the first quarter deadlocked at 23.

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Without a doubt, tonight the Celtics faced their toughest match-up of the season to date.  The 8-2 Orlando Magic boast a very productive starting five: Dwight Howard has improved his scoring average while remaining a rebounding beast; Rashard Lewis has thus far silenced the naysayers who wondered about his max value contract by giving the Magic the scorer that they needed; Hedo Turkoglu, reminds the casual NBA fan who utters "Hedo who?" that he is a pretty nice all-around player (18ppg, 6rpg, 4apg); 

Jameer Nelson has added nearly 2.5 assists per game to his ledger; and Keith Bogans has become a real three-point specialist (60 of his 77 field goal attempts have been threes).  But as with the new look Celtics, the real story may be the Magic defense, as they are holding teams to 41.8% shooting, second in the NBA to…….well, if you don’t know to whom, you need to turn in your CelticsBlog ID card right now.

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Tonight the Celtics hosted the star-laden but clearly fatigued Denver Nuggets at the Garden for the second home game of the year.  The game is a poignant one for the C’s as Doc is mourning his father who passed away on Sunday.  However, the mood on the court is anything but somber, as the Celtics continue their evolution toward membership in the ranks of the NBA elite.

The Celtics start strong, with each of the starting five making significant contributions on the court.  Rajon Rondo twice steps into passing lanes, picks off the ball and goes in uncontested, and then weaves through the lane for a lay-up in a half-court set.  Paul Pierce twice finds Kendrick Perkins underneath for dunks, once on a behind the back pass as Pierce drives across the lane.  Ray Allen throws a look-away pass to Kevin Garnett for a dunk, hits a three and floats around doing everything right.  Garnett hits three jumpers and a fall-away and grabs every rebound that comes his way.  Pierce scores on drives and jumpers like he’s working the room in a Toronto nightclub.  The C’s defense is tight.  Meanwhile, Denver can’t seem to stop anything.  End of the quarter stats tell the story: 38-22 Boston with 71% shooting, 12 assists, and 6 steals.  But even those numbers can not convey what an offensive clinic this was, easily the best quarter of the year so far for the Cs.

On Denver’s part, Marcus Camby had a couple of nice jumpers and overall was very active on the offensive end. The other two all stars, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson match Camby’s six points in the quarter, basically keeping the Nuggets in the game (if being down 16 after the first quarter is "in the game").

Sure, great first quarter, but they can’t keep this up, especially with the four bench players taking over, right?  Oh, those would be your crazy uncle’s Celtics, those of the last 4 years.  Tonight, they pour it on.  Eddie House hits two three-pointers and has his toe on the line on another jumper.  Brian Scalabrine gets a tip-in.  Tony Allen drives for a lay-up and then pulls up in the lane for another two.  Starters return with more of the same. You can’t even keep up with who’s scoring, it happens so fast and so often.   House comes back in for the final possession, gets a kick out pass from Tony Allen, and yes, drains it.

The Cs only score 41 in the quarter. The half ends 77-38.  Yes, 77-38, that’s no misprint.  If you are looking for negatives in the quarter, there is always the fact that James Posey left the game with back spasms and will not return (Nene is also gone with a thumb injury).  Rondo briefly turned into Bad Rajon with a couple of sloppy turnovers and one of his patented nothing-but-backboard drives, but then he hit a jump shot. Again, no misprint, Rajon Rondo hit a jump shot. Pierce has 20 at the half; Garnett has 14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a blocked shot (some day it will get old to say how good KG is, but not yet); Ray Allen has 13 points, and Eddie House 11.   Big Baby Davis never played but scored anyway.  Ok, that didn’t happen but every other miraculous thing that could, did. 

The third quarter opens with the burning question: will the Celtics cross 100 points before Denver gets 50?  Okay, maybe not, but it is deliciously close.  For a few brief moments, it looks like the break has refreshed Denver, with Kenyon Martin looking particularly displeased about the beating, but Denver quickly lapses back into their first half malaise.  The Celtics, meanwhile, continue hitting on all cylinders.  KG executes a beautiful one-handed dunk on an alley oop from Pierce, Garnett floating effortlessly while throwing it down.  The Celtics continue to do little wrong on offense, although they do slow the pace.  Their shooting percentage at the end of the quarter remains at 72%.  Their defensive intensity abates somewhat and Denver wins the quarter 28-26, closing the gap to a mere 37 points (103-66).  Denver: what is there to say?  They make some nice shots, but the complete lack of defense is crippling.  To add insult to injury, Mike Gorman actually compares them to the Washington Generals attempting to do battle with the Globetrotters.  It’s nice to be the Globetrotters for a change.

Two small moments highlight the third quarter.  First, Rondo sets a pick on Camby.  Camby lowers his shoulder, drilling Rajon and sending him flying.  Camby gets the foul, close to a flagrant one, and the Cs inbound the ball.  What does Rondo do?  Sets another pick on Camby to free Garnett for a jumper.  No fear.  Later, Pierce and Garnett go up for a defensive rebound.  Pierce has position, but Garnett rips it away.  They head up court, Pierce good-naturedly chiding Garnett and Garnett gives him a high five. Both continue to tease one another right up through a time out.  A fun moment of chemistry between stars.

Can an entire quarter qualify as garbage time?  Pierce leaves the game after the third quarter, while Garnett and Ray Allen leave with 9:11 left in the fourth.  The rest of the quarter is a race against the clock.  Can the Celtics bench get to the end of the game before they lose so many points that the starters have to sub back in?  The play is a bit sloppy, to say the least. The Celtics really need to work on holding those 40 point leads. Big Baby scores legitimately on an old fashioned three point play. Powe finally sees some court time and puts up four points in four minutes. Denver subs crush the C’s subs (+ Rondo) 26-16 and the final margin is only 26 points (119-93), closer than many Patriot games.

We do believe this Celtics team has a shot a being OK. Are you all having fun yet!?

Box Score | ESPN Highlights

Welcome back to professional basketball in the Garden folks.  Your patience is about to be rewarded.

After years of suffering, the master alchemist Danny Ainge has taken the detritus of last season and transmuted it into a roster of gold and silver.  Now the only question is whether the next chain reaction, the interaction of these precious metals, will fashion themselves into a championship ring.  Hopes are high with Boston’s new Trinity boasting 22 All-Star games under their collective belts (10 for KG, 7 for Allen and 5 for Pierce) with all three hungry for the hardware. 

The first quarter of the first home preseason game of the Gabe Pruitt era (okay, maybe he’ll have some help) did nothing to dim the hopes of Celtics fans.  Immediately after Rajon Rondo welcomed the crowd home to the Garden, signs of the reclamation began.  Paul Pierce drives to the basket and finds an open Perkins for a dunk.  Kevin Garnett gets the ball in the post, but instead of forcing one up, sends a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Rondo for a lay-up.  Following a missed free throw by Eddy Curry (who’s looking like he has Oliver Miller’s dietician), the Celtics get out quick and Pierce beats everyone up the floor for a lay-up.  Ray Allen dribbles under the hoop, and hits Pierce behind the three-point line. Pierce immediately rotates it to Kevin Garnett at the top of the key who hits the jumper.  If this were last season, there is no way Pierce passes up that shot. 

The Celtics hit 11 of their first 12 shots and jump out to an early double digit lead.  Eddie House enters the game after Rondo gets his second foul about four minutes in, and drains a couple, including a three.  Leon Powe throws himself around immediately upon his own entrance.  Powe is going to play this year, and play a lot.  

The Knicks? Boy do they love to dribble, go one-on-one, and shoot.  Ball movement and defense, however: not so much.  The first quarter ends with the Celtics leading 30-18 with 72% shooting (yes, you read that right, 72%). The Knicks did get out of the first quarter without committing a felony, which by their standards is an unmitigated success. 

The start of the second quarter clearly lays out the challenge that the Celtics will face this year.  One of the Garnett, Pierce, or Ray Allen trio needs to be on the court at all times.  The quintet of House, Pruitt, Scalabrine, Powe, and Posey appeared to be running the offense looking for one of the three stars. Fortunately, the Knicks were hardly on fire, so even the rag-tag second team managed to hold their own until the starters were rested enough to rotate back in. 

The revelation of the second quarter, however, was the play of Brian Scalabrine.  More alchemy here?  Scalabrine played much of the second quarter and seemed to be in the middle of every play.  In ten minutes, he pulled down two rebounds, had an assist, a block, and nailed a three-pointer.  He played solid defense and at one point slid across the floor to rescue a loose ball fumbled by Rondo.  When was the last time Scal did such a good impersonation of an actual player?  Likely, not since Jason Kidd was directing his movements. 

Once the starters were back on the floor the pace picked up somewhat.  Not only are KG, Allen and Pierce dismissing any doubts about their willingness to play together, but Rondo does not look out of place at all as he amassed three rebounds, two assists and two steals by halftime, and was moving the ball solidly up the court.

Perk, true to form, was already in foul trouble by the half.  The Celtics end the half solidly in the lead 50-35, with a toasty 61% shooting. The first unit picked up in the second half right where they left off in the first:  real teamwork, ball movement, and solid defense. Garnett beat everyone up for a dunk on a pass from Allen.

Garnett gets his hand on nearly every rebound and takes every opportunity to show that he is a great passer. Not just good - a great passer.  Cut to the hoop and he’ll find you; throw it to him in the high post and he’ll use a touch pass to redirect it to an open wing; be ready and there’s the outlet pass. 

A few minutes in, Pierce finds Perkins underneath for a dunk (Perk may lead the league in shooting percentage this year, as the wide open dunk will become his patented move).  Mostly Pierce continued to light it up with ease adding 8 points bringing his game total to 22. 

With about 3 minutes left in the quarter, the starters bid adieu and Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Pruitt, House, and Dahntay Jones join Scal on the floor.  Officially the third quarter ends with a 31-point lead, 77-46, with Big Baby’s left hand lay-up the final blow of the quarter.  The Knicks shoot 16% in the quarter, but no lawsuits, so again a win for them.  Marbury may be thinking about his European exit strategy more seriously after this one. 

The final quarter begins with the third unit on the floor and a solid lead, thus allowing time for some evaluation of the supporting cast. The draft picks look solid.  Pruitt looks like he may further contribute to Ainge’s reputation as a drafting guru, handling and penetrating respectably and showing a very nice, soft stroke.  Pruitt will end the game with 13 points and 4 assists in only 17 minutes of play.  

Big Baby is a tad beefy and was winded way too early in the quarter, but showed some fancy moves including a spinning lay-up through traffic in the lane and a back door cut to Jackie Manuel, who may have made his first and last appearance at the Garden.  Wallace’s play was fairly non-descript, and his future is still in limbo. 

KG spent the quarter on the sidelines apparently attempting to control the ball with his mind.  His intensity and support for these young players, half of whom won’t be around long enough to wash their jerseys, is one of the great images of the evening. 

Powe is back in for the end of the quarter and ends the game by draining a16-footer, then stealing the ball, streaking down the court and drawing an intentional foul.  His one converted free throw gives us a final score of 101-61 – the largest preseason Celtics win margin since 1988.  

Perhaps the most important statistic of the evening, however, may be the 27 Celtics assists.  The Celtics don’t just have three stars, they have three stars who know how to share the ball and the spotlight.   

All gold tonight.

As everyone reading this knows by now, the Celtics have a 38.7% shot at getting the number 1 or 2 pick tonight (and thus one of the grand prizes of this year’s draft â€" Greg Oden or Kevin Durant).  At first blush, that percentage doesn’t look so great, and we are all bracing ourselves for the worst.  But then we started thinking of all of the things that are worse than 38.7%:

1) 34.8% - The Celtics’ combined win-loss record over the past two years.
So the Celtics have a better chance at landing Oden or Durant than they did at winning a game the last 2 years. Feel better? No? Sorry. Let’s continue.

2) 37.1% - Telfair’s 2006-07 shooting percentage (well, shooting percentage with a basketball that is).  Unfortunately, we suspect the percentage of nights Danny Ainge woke up his wife while screaming “Brandon Roy!” in his sleep is much higher.

3) 36% - The percent of Americans who can name the current President of Russia.  Can you?  Yeah, but the first Italian player likely to be drafted this year, that one you know.  We’re kind of a disturbed lot, aren’t we?

4) 34.8% - The percentage of regular season games Raef LaFrentz has played in the last four years since being traded from Dallas.   The percentage of games anyone wanted him to play: 0.3%.  There was that first one before we discovered how terrible he’d become…

5) 3.3% (estimated) - The odds that Knick fans will cheer their pick on draft night.  Since Patrick Ewing in 1985, we think Maciej Lampe is the only player in the last 20 years who got a smattering of applause. How’d that one work out for them?

6) 0.00% - According to basketball-reference.com, the chance that the only former number one pick on the Celtics roster this past season, Michael Olowokandi, will make it into the Hall of Fame. We think it’s lower.

7) -100% - Doc Rivers’ chance of making it into the Hall of Fame as a coach.   Doc actually has to pay double admission to get in as a tourist, and then is only admitted if he agrees not to get within 50 feet of the Red Auerbach bust.

8) 35% - President Bush’s current approval rating.

9) 35% - And, in the spirit of bipartisanship, Congress’ current approval rating.  Nice job everyone, keep up the good work.

10)  ? - The combined current approval ratings among Celtics fans of Wyc, Danny, and Doc (we currently have skilled mathematicians working to find enough digits after the decimal point to produce an actual number).

We recently came across some very disturbing information about our fellow CelticsBloggers at the excellent site lowpost.net. If you're not familiar with lowpost.net, it draws together information from all of the various blogs covering the NBA, and also ranks blogs by the number of weekly posts and the "influence" (a measure of other sites that link to a blog) exerted by each blog.

The Celtics have the largest number of dedicated blogs of any NBA team (15). The Pistons are second with eleven blogs - no other team is even close. The Celtics blogs together account for 109 main blog posts a week, more than double the Pistons' post count (and we won't even get into how disquieting this is, given the relative success of the two teams in recent years). CelticsBlog is, of course, the number one Celtics site, averaging 28 main posts a week (we believe Jeff must have an evil twin), and has three times more influence than the second ranked Celtics site. In fact, only three blogs in all of NBA-dom beat out our beloved CelticsBlog in terms of influence (True Hoop, The Fanhouse and HoopsAddict for those of you keeping score at home).

All of this spurred a realization: you people are addicts! Therefore, as a public service to the CelticsBlog community, we offer the following sixteen signs that your love for the Celtics has perhaps gotten the better of you:

1) You TIVOed Friday night's Celtics-Sixers game and actually watched it.

2) You understand 38.9% of what Bob Cousy is saying.

3) You've scouted players and formed an opinion of who the Celtics should take in the second round…of the 2011 draft.

4) At 4pm, when your boss asks what you've been working on today, you have trouble coming up with a cover story that doesn't include the phrase "Rondo's jump shot."

5) You're still annoyed that the Cs cut Kevin Pittsnogle.

6) Instead of admitting to your wife that you are on CelticsBlog again, you tell her you are surfing porn.

7) Your screen name is Roy Hobbs.

8) Instead of a sticker chart, you toilet train your child by awarding "Tommy Points."

9) You start threads like "The Official Respect for Doc Rivers Thread" or "Placed in a Coma Until May 22nd" (lottery day).

10) You know who Glenn McDonald is and that he has nothing to do with fast food.

11) You actually go to fsnnewengland.com and try to win a Tommy Heinsohn bobblehead doll.

12) Your "total time spent online" at CelticsBlog can only be measured by carbon dating.

13) You're over 30 and you have more Celtics game jerseys than dress shirts.

14) Just hearing the name "Kobe" induces grand mal seizures.

15) You've made your own green-clad Greg Oden action figure complete with its own private Banner 17 jet.

16) You spend your spare time writing articles for the front page of CelticsBlog.

Quick, no peeking: who are the most disappointing teams in the NBA this year? Which teams are performing well below expectations considering last year's performance? And what one factor ties many of these teams together? Made your guesses? Read the title? OK, so you know the punch line, but here's the detail anyway to embolden you in future debate.

{styleboxjp width=200px,float=left,color=skyblue,textcolor=white,echo=yes} Memphis leads the disappointing pack hands down (29 fewer wins than last year, projected as of March 26th). Yes, Virginia, they were in the playoffs last year with the fourth best record in the West.{/styleboxjp} Really - we're not kidding, they were. You can look it up. Then come the Nets (projected to end up with 12 fewer wins than last year), Pistons (-12), Kings (-10), Bucks (-9), and our very own Boston Celtics (-9). Certainly calling the Pistons disappointing seems like a stretch when they have the best record in the East. Their decrease in wins is largely attributable to having done so well in the regular season last year (leading to every team's worst enemy: regression to the mean) - and of course to letting Ben Wallace go to Chicago. Sacramento, on the other hand, may well have been infected by a touch of Artestitis. Although Ron-Ron has played well this year, he's just an opportunistic virus waiting for a team to destroy. He's special that way.

What one factor do the other teams have in common? If you said a wealth of injuries, you get a gold star (or, perhaps more fittingly, a Tommy Point). {styleboxjp width=250px,float=right,color=black,textcolor=white,echo=yes}The top five teams in terms of games lost to injury by their top four players (calculated through March 26th) are as follows: the Hornets (104), Celtics (102), Bucks (98), Heat (80), and Nets (69).{/styleboxjp} This list remains stable for injuries to the top seven players on each team, with the Atlanta Hawks joining the crowd. Atlanta did a bit better than the above teams at keeping its top players healthy (and maintaining its win totals), but lost supporting players Tyrone Lue and Speedy Claxton for extended periods this season.

{styleboxjp width=150px,float=left,color=grey,textcolor=black,echo=yes}Not surprisingly, three of the six teams with the greatest projected decreases in wins this year show up on the list of those losing the most games to injury by key players.{/styleboxjp} The Bucks lost Bobby Simmons (their second leading scorer last year) for the whole season, their one star, Michael Redd, for a quarter of the season, and the player (Charlie Villaneuva) for whom they traded away their starting point guard (TJ Ford) for a quarter of the season. The Nets in turn, a preciously thin team to begin with, lost Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic for significant chunks of the year.

As for the Celtics, you know the list as well as we do (and we didn't even count Theo when calculating games lost! We figure Danny knew he was a risk when he got him). Suffice it to say, if Pierce does shut down for the rest of the year, Allan Ray and Leon Powe may well be the 7th and 8th men in the Celtics' rotation.

Other teams, while performing more on par with last year, were still clearly affected by significant numbers of injuries. Although the Hornets will win about the same number of games they did last year, the acquisitions of Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler and the continued ascension of Chris Paul into the stratosphere of NBA stardom created expectations far beyond last year's 38 wins. These expectations have been derailed, however, by injuries to Peja, Paul, and David West. The defending champion Heat will likely stumble to the gate with around 45 wins (7 less than last year). That's what happens when Shaq, Wade, and Jason Williams go down for long stretches, leaving the round mound of poor shot selection, the artist formerly know as 'Toine, to boldly mislead the way.

{styleboxjp width=200px,float=right,color=maroon,textcolor=white,echo=yes} We do like to quantify the obvious - in fact, it's our specialty.{/styleboxjp} But, yes, injuries have a huge influence on a team's success. The axiom "good teams overcome injuries" may well be more applicable to the player-rich and system-driven NFL (ah, the beauty of an actual injured reserve list that allows you to replace someone on the 53 man roster) than to today's NBA. So let us all bow our heads and pray for the health of Pierce, Jefferson, Allen, and Szczerbiak next year. Given the 61% chance that the Celtics do not get Oden or Durant this summer, next year's win total is probably more dependent on the health of these four players than on anything else.