The Boston Celtics entered the season expected to contend with the Miami Heat (and possibly others) for the Eastern Conference title. They’re off to a 3-3 start, which isn’t bad, but certainly not impressive when you consider that two of the wins came against the Wizards. One of the main problems for the Celtics is their age.
Kevin Garnett is 36 and Paul Pierce is 35, which means their minutes continue to be limited like they have been the past few seasons. Point guard Rajon Rondo says that comes at a cost; he said the team struggles when KG leaves the floor.
“Nothing’s happening right. Just chaos,” Rondo said with a sly smile after Friday’s loss to the Sixers.
“When Kevin goes out, things change. Teams go on a run for some reason. We gotta take the challenge as a team and try to find a way to stop those types of runs because he’s going to come out.”
Rondo says he’s not panicking, and he really shouldn’t be after just a few weeks. But this seems like an issue that will persist. The bottom line for the Celtics is winning enough to get a decent seed in the playoffs, and then hopefully letting their older players loose for more minutes. Their players are still highly skilled, they just can’t play enough. Oh, and imagine how many more games the Celtics would win if Rondo could actually hit a jump shot?
