A Familiar Theme: Celts Blow Lead, Lose to Magic

Another double digit blown lead, the ninth game since Christmas.  That's a staggering stat.  The third quarter did the C's in today, being outscored 36-11 after they played very well in the first half and built an 11 point lead.

It's hard to grasp what's wrong with them right now.  They play like they did in the first half but it's never consistent for 48 minutes.  The team finally had their top 9 rotation players all in the same game for the first time all season (Davis and Daniels both in action).  But it didn't matter.

It was nice seeing Marquis return today.  He looked solid in his 13 minutes.  I actually liked seeing the entire second unit of House, Tony Allen, Daniels, Davis and Sheed all on the floor at once today.  I can't go back on my word from the beginning of the season when I said that was the best bench in basketball- I still think they have the ability to be.

But the Celts lost this one in the 3rd quarter- which is on the starters.

It's frustrating even recapping this game, let alone wondering how to solve the problem.  Is trading Ray Allen really the answer?  Has this group simply run its course and it needs a chemistry tweak in order to refocus?  I can honestly say today's the first time that after the game I sort of get the feeling Boston may be more serious in pulling the trigger on a deal.  It's been mentioned in previous weeks but this collapse today reminds me of the time back in January of 2001 when the Celtics lost a home game to Golden State.  With the way they had been playing at the time, I knew a major move was imminent.  Sure enough, the Evil Emperor resigned after that game.  I had predicted it to my buddy too, that something big was going to happen.  I actually haven't really had that feeling in awhile.  But I had it today.

I'm really not sure making a trade would be the answer right now.  The team just doesn't look like it's hungry or focused.  Sure Garnett looking like an aged Hakeem Olajuwon out there is debilitating.  But what about the rest of these guys?  Saying they're saving it for the playoffs is not a good enough answer at this point.  The Celtics just aren't playing good basketball right now at all.