After finishing in the Atlantic Division cellar with a mark of 29-53, the 1978-79 Boston Celtics had great reason to look forward to the next season, when their first pick from the 1978 NBA Draft, a man by the name of Larry Bird, finally joined the team.
With Bird's arrival came the rebirth of the Celtics dynasty, as Boston finished first in the Atlantic during the former Indiana State star's first season, before embarking on a run of three NBA titles in six years.
Perhaps the last glimmer of hope for this year's squad, mired in a 16-game losing streak that has left it on pace to win fewer games than the 1978-79 team, is that it will likely have the chance to follow the precedent of overnight turnarounds set by its late-1970s brethren. Heading into last night's game against the Miami Heat, Boston was tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for a league-worst 12 wins, leaving it among the front-runners to gain one of the top spots in the 2007 NBA Draft and select one of two highly-touted college freshmen, Ohio State center Greg Oden or Texas guard/forward Kevin Durant.
Among the reasons why this Celtics team is the worst since the infamous 15-win squad from 1996-97 is that they have had to deal with numerous key injuries. The only player on the Boston roster to play in multiple All-Star Games, Paul Pierce, has been out since Dec. 22 with an injury to his left foot, during which time the Celtics have gone 2-21.
Center Theo Ratliff, acquired during the 2006 NBA Draft and due $11.7 million this year, has played a grand total of 43 minutes the entire season, having had back surgery in January that will force him to miss the remainder of the 2006-07 campaign.
The Celtics have sustained additional injuries during their losing streak. Tony Allen, a third-year guard from Oklahoma State who was on pace for career highs in points, rebounds, and assists, tore two left-knee ligaments on Jan. 10 and will likely not return before next season's training camp.
In addition, guards Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak, and forward Brian Scalabrine have all missed time with injuries during the losing streak, forcing Boston to dress just nine players during back-to-back losses to the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons Jan. 12 and 13.
The Celtics have also been hampered by their reliance on younger players. In his sixth year in the NBA, the 28-year-old Scalabrine was the oldest and most experienced player in Boston's most recent starting lineup. The average age of a player currently on Boston's active roster is 23.8 years, as the team boasts four players who turned pro after their respective senior years of high school.
To compound the problem, the veterans in the lineup have not even made significant contributions. The eldest player on the team's active roster, 31-year-old center Michael Olowokandi, did not log a single minute of playing time during Boston's 15th-straight loss, a 109-102 setback Tuesday night against Detroit. Meanwhile, the eighth-year pro out of Miami of Ohio, Szczerbiak has not played more than 25 minutes since returning from a right ankle injury that sidelined him for nine games.
The Celtics have also been victims of bad luck. Twelve of their last 16 losses have come by eight points or less, many in hard-fought games where they mounted serious comebacks but fell just short. The most noteworthy of these performances came Jan. 22 against the vaunted San Antonio Spurs, when Boston, trailing by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, cut the deficit to two with 8.7 seconds left in the fourth before falling 93-89.
The team's upcoming schedule will not help it emerge from its season-long malaise. After last night's game against the Heat, the Celtics have three more contests before they embark on a five-game Western trip, when they will visit the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets. Only the Kings, with a mark of 20-26, are fewer than 10 games above .500.
Those Celtics fans hoping that the team's downward spiral will guarantee it a shot at Oden or Durant on Draft Day June 28 need look no further than recent history. Boston held two lottery picks for the 1997 NBA Draft, having gone a franchise-worst 15-67 and having acquired a second one from the 24-58 Dallas Mavericks. Still, the team only managed to get the third and sixth picks in the draft, losing out on a chance at can't-miss Wake Forest center Tim Duncan and instead settling on Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer. A little luck in the lottery, more than anything else, may determine if Boston can turn things around next season.
