It was bound to happen eventually.For the first time all season, the Celtics lost three straight games last week.
After opening the season 16-0 against the Western Conference, they collapsed at the start of their five-game West road trip, falling in short order to Denver, Golden State and Phoenix. It was a rough four days.
But maybe the week was good for the Cs in the long run. The silver lining is that perhaps the skid will be a lesson to Danny Ainge.
The week culminated in an ugly 85-77 loss to the Suns, a game that was light-years more lopsided than the score indicated. Even without the athleticism of Shawn Marion, the Suns ran the Celtics into the ground. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire were at their best, and Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill each looked five years younger. At one point, Shaq even did his best imitation of Danny himself circa 1985, diving into the seats after a loose ball. Meanwhile, the Celtics just looked flat. Paul Pierce called the game one of the top five worst of his career.
The Suns played as if with new life - and in a way, they had it. After all, they just made one of the biggest trades in team history. The Celtics, on the other hand, had spent their trade deadline doing the unthinkable.
Standing pat.
While Shaq, Marion, Pau Gasol, Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby were changing hands, Danny was sitting on his, basking in the glow of the best record in the No Balls Association (thanks, Bill Simmons).
I'm not normally a fan of change for the sake of change. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" is a perfectly reasonable philosophy for most first-place teams. But Danny of all people should know that the Celtics are no ordinary first-place team.
This is a team that just witnessed perhaps the most frenzied trade deadline in NBA history. The Celtics, atop the NBA at 41-11 at the time, watched as every single team chasing them in the playoff hunt retooled its lineup to gear up for the stretch run.
This isn't just about Shaq and Pau anymore. The big names are nice, but that's only scratching the surface. The Cavaliers completely redesigned LeBron James' supporting cast, surrounding him with Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Joe Smith. The Spurs picked up Damon Stoudamire (did you even try, Danny?) and Kurt Thomas. The Hornets added a reliable bench scorer in Bonzi Wells and a solid backup for Chris Paul, in Mike James. The Pistons quietly added Juan Dixon, another bench scorer to add to their absurdly deep roster.
And that's just at the deadline. Remember when the Jazz added Kyle Korver back in December? They're 20-5 since. Rumor has it they're renaming the three-point arc the "Korver Line." Plus, the Magic added Maurice Evans, and the Warriors picked up Chris Webber, and... you know what? I can't go on. I'm nauseous.
My point is that try as I may, I can't think of a single team in the NBA playoff hunt that made less of an effort to fine-tune its roster than Danny Ainge's Celtics. And in a season as active as this one, Danny's inaction can only be perceived as a tacit statement that all is perfect at the Garden.
And it obviously isn't. This is a team that needs guard depth - not one that can win a championship with a 22-year-old point guard (happy birthday, Rajon) and no backup. The Celtics already missed their chance with Stoudamire, but that doesn't mean it's too late to make a change.
Sam Cassell and Brent Barry are on the market. Either one of them would be a nice pickup. It'd also be a nice gesture to the fans here in Boston.
Anything to let us know you're trying, Danny. Because everyone else sure is.
Evans Clinchy is a junior majoring in English. He can be reached at Evans.Clinchy@tufts.edu.
