Slow start hasn't doomed Celtics yet

Wide spread panic has engulfed the Boston area in the wake of the Celtics limping through a frustrating 0-3 start to the season.  This certainly is not what we expected from a team with championship aspirations.  The quickly closing window on those title hopes, as the Big Three embark on their last rodeo before the expiring contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen inevitably break up the core of the team, makes Celtics fans all the more concerned over this troubling start.  While there is no sugar coating the fact that nobody in the Celtics organization is in any way satisfied with how things have gone thus far, let's keep things in perspective.  It's only three games and things haven't been nearly as bad as they appear.

Let's start with the season opener on Christmas Day.  The Celtics clashed with a Knicks team that was amped up for their home opener to a season which they expect to be relevant from the start for the first time in years thanks to a full season of Carmelo Anthony and the addition of Tyson Chandler.  This is a game the Celtics could have won, falling just short in the end of a narrow two point loss.  They had a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds, but just couldn't convert.  The difference in the game may very well have been those two free points awarded to the Knicks for controversial technical fouls called by veteran official Joey Crawford.  The same guy well known for holding grudges and going out of his way to make his mark on a game, altered the ending of a close game by handing out technical fouls just to remind everyone that he's in charge on the court.  The fact that the league later reviewed and rescinded both technicals shows how bogus they really were to begin with.  That's right, the league actually agreed that the Celtics didn't deserve either technical, which means the Knicks didn't deserve those two points.  Too late now.  The backlash about officiating early in the season may be overblown (especially if you listen to Tommy Heinsohn), but this was a clear example of how an official may have cost us a game.

Two nights later the Celtics dropped another game in South Beach to the reigning Eastern Conference champs.  While it was discouraging to see the Celtics fall behind again, did anyone really expect this team to beat Miami on the road?  They proved last year they are capable of it, but Miami was still favored and rightly so.  There is plenty that the Celtics could have done better in that game, but they admirably battled back again to make it close in the fourth quarter, which is about as well as we should have expected in this game.

The most frustrating loss of the season came the next night against a Hornets team that was widely considered to be one of the worst in the league.  An exhausted Celtics team appeared overmatched against a clearly inferior team that was missing it's top scorer (Eric Gordon, the key piece in the Chris Paul trade).  It was the second night of a back-to-back on the road and their third game in four nights.  We knew going into this season that the condensed 66-game schedule would take a toll on this veteran lineup and a blow out loss in New Orleans just enforces that fact.

Not much has gone right for these Celtics in the early going, but there are reasons to be optimistic for a turn around.  The biggest reason is that Paul Pierce will return to the lineup in the near future, possibly as early as tonight for the home opener against the Pistons.  The Celtics captain has been out with a bruised heel and his absence is a big reason why the offense has sputtered.  Is there any doubt that the last second shot in New York would have been put into the hands of Pierce to fire the dagger reminiscent of his game winning buzzer beater against those same Knicks last season if he had been on the court?  How much closer would the game in Miami have been if they not only had Pierce's scoring, but had his tough defense to slow LeBron James instead of the invisible Sasha Pavlovic?  Despite that his age now matches the number on his jersey, Pierce is still the Celtics best scorer and his presence will undoubtedly make the team better all around.

Ever since the new Big Three was assembled, this team has flourished behind it's dominant defense. Anchored by Garnett, the Celtics have perennially been among the league's elite defensively.  So far this season the Celtics rank 29th in defensive deficiency.  There's just no way they can continue to be even remotely as bad as they've been on the defensive end.  The players, especially KG, won't stand for it and the coaching staff is well aware of the importance of improving the defense.  There is no doubt that by seasons end this squad will finish in the top half of the league in defensive efficiency.

One of the biggest issues so far has been a lack of scoring punch from their bench.  While that's likely to remain an issue throughout the year, Pierce's return will settle the rest of the lineup into their proper roles.  The addition of Mickael Pietrus, who should join the team in about a week or so, should give them a boost with some more outside shooting.  Brandon Bass has proved to be a steal as a clear upgrade over Big Baby Davis, who he was traded for.  The team has gotten next to nothing from Avery Bradley, but we can expect that he will either improve soon or else his minutes will be given away to to E'Twaun Moore, who has shown flashes of potential already.  Plus we can never count out the team tinkering with the roster later in season.  The new additions haven't been able to successfully integrate themselves into the system yet due to a lack of practice time, but there will be more off days coming up where the team will finally have the chance to get in the gym and work on some of the things that have hindered them in the early going.

All around the league we have seen veteran teams, such as the Lakers and even the defending champion Mavs, stumble out of the gate this season.  The grueling schedule will impact those types of teams most, including the Celtics.  In the short term, the schedule does provide some reasons for optimism.  The Celtics play 19 of their next 25 games at home, packed with games against teams like the Cavs, Raptors, Nets and Wizards.  If they can't right the ship during that stretch, then it will be time to panic, but not yet.  Nobody is expecting the Celtics to dominate the regular season, not with having to deal with such a hellacious schedule.  Their focus is on getting to the postseason without wearing themselves out.  Their path to the Finals will almost inevitably take them through both Miami and Chicago anyway, so as long as they can secure a top 6 seed to avoid either of those teams in the first round then they'll have a fighting chance.  

This is a flawed team, but which team isn't?  The star power in their starting lineup, including the still improving Rajon Rondo, is capable of competing with the league's elite.  Regular readers know that I'm a bit of an optimist, but it's clear that there are better days ahead for this team.  They will turn things around.  Maybe that starts tonight.  It's been a rough start, but it's only three games.  Even in a shortened season, that's not nearly enough to doom this Celtics team.  Not yet anyway.