The Celtics played their ugliest game of the season tonight (and maybe the ugliest game of the season period), but winning ugly is what Boston does best.

To say the Celtics are beat up would be a gross understatement. Less than three weeks ago the Celtics lost their All-Star point guard to a torn ACL, gone for the remainder of the season. He was joined shortly afterwards by rookie Jared Sullinger, and just this past Monday by Leandro Barbosa. “This ride has been mentally draining for us, losing guy after guy,” Jason Terry said after tonight’s game against Chicago. It’s been physically draining too; even the “healthy” Celtics are injured, like Paul Pierce who’s been playing through a pinched nerve in his neck for two months.

But on the eve of All-Star Weekend with less than two minutes left in the game, Kevin Garnett battled for a loose ball on the Garden floor, Paul Pierce’s free-throws found the bottom of the net, and “defensive stopper” Jason Terry sealed the victory with a game-winning block. The Celtics–who fell behind after shooting 20% in the second and third quarters–turned it around in the fourth and found a way to win, shooting 69% in the final frame. They are 8-1 since Rondo went down, propelled forward by a lot of grit and a little bit of luck.

The Celtics will head into the All-Star break four games above .500, soon to be bolstered by ten-day contracts and a trade deadline that should bring relief in one form or another. In six days they’ll head to Denver for a rematch of Monday’s thriller and the first game of a five game road trip, but until then they’ll enjoy some well deserved rest.

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After losing a lead they held for three and a half quarters the Boston Celtics ultimately hung on to win in triple-overtime, which is good because I’m not into moral victories. This was easily the most important game since Rondo’s injury, and the Celtics delivered an absolute thriller with a ton of big shots and a hefty helping of free basketball. Let’s get to the recap:

• Paul Pierce finished with 27 points (7-20 shooting, 8-9 from the line), 14 rebounds, and 14 assists–and has quickly assumed Rondo’s mantle as king of the ugly triple-double. Pierce started out really well, bumbled his way through the second half, and then hit a huge three over Andre Miller to send the game to a third overtime. It was an uneven and messy performance but whatever works, I guess. Pierce played an absolutely insane 54 minutes tonight, which make me more forgiving of a few late-game hiccups.
• Jason Terry (26 points, 10-22 shooting), like Pierce, started off hot and then fell apart missing shot after shot before hitting a crucial three in the third overtime. Despite the big shot, I would have preferred Courtney Lee be given an opportunity down the stretch because at least he could have contributed on defense. Then again, Courtney Lee dribbled the ball off his foot (A Celtics shooting guard dribbling off his foot? Never seen that before) so I’m not really sure if I want him on the floor with the game on the line.
• Kevin Garnett struggled offensively for most of the night, but the game went on so long KG eventually shot himself out of his slump and took over in the third overtime to lead the Celtics to victory. Garnett ended up with 20 points on 9-24 shooting and 18 rebounds.
• Jeff Green started off slow but hit multiple clutch shots at the end of regulation and overtime. He also made a great defensive stop before completely losing his handle in transition while staring at the ball wondering what happened. Green scored 17 points on 6-10 shooting and will probably end up being the unsung hero of this game, his key plays forgotten because of Paul Pierce’s huge (ridiculously ill-advised) shot and Garnett’s takeover in the third overtime.
• Chris Wilcox played 11 minutes to Jason Collins half a second which didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things (and may have been a matchup decision) but it made me happy.
• Ty Lawson might actually be too fast for Avery Bradley.
• I’m sitting here trying to figure out why Barbosa only played 17 minutes.

Now I’m not trying to be a huge bummer, but this bears mentioning: The Celtics shot less than 40% for the game (after shooting 48% in the first half) because their offense continues to grind to a halt late in games. Tonight the Celtics shot 25% in the fourth quarter and 34% in the three overtime periods. The C’s haven’t made a drastic change in pace since Rondo’s injury, but they have been advancing the ball quickly and getting into their sets earlier (resulting in great ball-movement). This doesn’t happen in the fourth quarter and the offense stagnates, which allows opposing teams to get back into the game (and not just tonight, it happened against the Raptors and the Clippers too).  Eventually the Celtics will have to correct this or it’s going to bite them in the you-know-what. We’ll worry about that another time though, tonight the Celtics made play after play to beat a quality Nuggets squad and cemented themselves as a team nobody wants to play in the playoffs. Tomorrow, they’ll face Charlotte and try and stretch their NBA-leading win streak to eight.

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News broke last night that Rajon Rondo might be able to return sooner than expected which sent Twitter into a frenzy, with some crying out for Rondo to think of the long-term implications and others dreaming of a hobbled Rondo leading his team to the NBA Finals. Shortly afterwards, Danny Ainge put a stop to any speculation that Rondo might return early:

Con't.... Ainge says Rondo will not play this season #CelticsTalk

February 7, 2013 11:55 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@kylerdraper

Kyle Draper

Instead it appears that Rondo has only suffered a partial tear of his ACL and his timetable has been set to six months, according to Yahoo’s Marc Spears, which would have him back well before the start of the 2013-14 season. Rondo has spoken to three different doctors (including James Andrews who did Adrian Peterson’s ACL surgery) and may make a decision as early as this Friday on who will perform the procedure. Rondo’s surgery is expected to be on either February 12 or 13 and will either use his own ligaments  (possibly from his other knee) or a cadaver.

Get well soon Rajon.

Follow Jordan on Twitter: @OffensiveG

The next three seasons were supposed to be a transitional phase for the Celtics where they would reload on the fly and start the process of becoming Rondo’s team. That all fell apart following Rondo’s ACL tear, an injury he may not fully recover from until the 2014-15 season. Management will ultimately make the decision on where the team goes from here, but Paul Pierce told the Herald’s Steve Bulpett that he’s not interested in another rebuild:

“I’m at the point in my career where I’ve got to evaluate it each and every year,” Pierce said. “It’s all based on the situation and based on what I want out of this game still. I mean, I’ve still got a lot of love for the game. I’m still very motivated. But there’s other factors.

“I mean, I really don’t want to be part of a rebuilding situation again. I just think at this point in time that’s something that would wear on me too much mentally that I don’t know what decision I may make if I have to. I may retire if I have to. You know, that’s something that’s a year-end process, especially given the situation that we have right now.”

“It’s all on what they plan on doing,” said Pierce. “If they try to go into a rebuild mode, then, you know, I don’t know if I want to be a part of that. But that’s up to them and what they need to do. I don’t want to go out on a rebuild mode.

“I want an opportunity to at least try to win another championship, simple and plain. And if that’s not going to be here — if that’s going to be somewhere else — so be it. That’s what it has to be. I mean, even the greatest players played for other franchises.

It’s true that many great players changed uniforms at the tail end of their careers (Jordan, Pippen, Malone, etc.) and rarely does it have any significant impact on that player’s legacy. At the same time, for Pierce to finish his career having only played for one team in todays NBA would be incredibly special. The trade deadline is still two weeks away, but I doubt Pierce is moved unless this team completely falls apart. For now, I think Pierce has his eye on this season:

“I honestly feel this team could do something special beyond what anybody could probably believe. I feel like the talent that’s in this room, based on when I look at the East — even with the circumstances with the injuries — can still win. When I see how we play against a Miami and I see how we play vs. the Clippers and just what we’ve got, I still feel like we can compete with anybody in the league.

“You know, this could be one of those special stories that come around every so many years.”

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The Celtics got their first road win since the Rondo injury, grinding out a comeback victory after a messy third quarter collapse. Of course, that win came against the 17-32 Raptors, but that shouldn’t take away from the Celtics superior execution down the stretch after they put themselves in a tight spot. The Celtics were outscored 34-19 in the third but Barbosa and Garnett combined for 23 in the fourth and they were able to get the win. Lets get to the recap:

• Kevin Garnett was a steady presence for the otherwise uneven Celtics offense. He scored 27 points on 18 shots and kept the offense chugging along despite finding himself in foul trouble during the second half.  He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter including a clutch turnaround jumper that put the Celtics up five with 45 seconds to go.
• Paul Pierce struggled with his shot tonight. He finished with 10 points while shooting a horrific 2-11 from the field, and his misses were wild including multiple air balls and bricks off the side of the rim. For reasons that are beyond me, Pierce got an isolation play drawn up for him in crunch time where he ran down the shot clock, drove right, and then missed the basket by a mile. Fortunately the Raptors immediately turned the ball over afterwards. Pierce did have 11 rebounds though, continuing to pick up the slack on the boards, and 6 assists with just two turnovers.
• Jason Terry, who had averaged 12 points per game post-Rondo, turned back into a pumpkin. He only scored two points while disappearing for large spans of time and most of the time when I noticed him he was attempting some crazy, awful, mid-air spin pass.
• Leandro Barbosa was a bright spot off the bench on a night when Terry and Green struggled, with 14 points on 5-8 shooting. His four assists were marred by three turnovers, but an all around solid performance for the Brazilian Blur as a spark plug off the Celtics’ bench.
• Courtney Lee continued to be solid as a rock, with 15 points on 11 shots and good defense.
• Chris Wilcox’s two rebounds and a block in four minutes were apparently not as good as Jason Collins’ two fouls in eight minutes. Wilcox also had a better +/- (+3 vs –9) and I continue to wonder who’s puppy Wilcox kicked to end up this deep in the dog house. Yeah, I’m still grumpy about this.

It’s still the Raptors, I’m still not sold, and my eye is still on the Denver game Sunday. Still, a comeback win on the road was something we hadn’t seen from this version of the 2012-13 Celtics, and I take Toronto more seriously than Orlando or Sacramento (or the Clippers without Chris Paul). The Celtics will fly back to Boston tonight to take on the Lakers tomorrow at the Garden, who will be without Pau Gasol and likely Dwight Howard as well.

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With tonight’s victory over the Orlando Magic the Celtics have won three in a row and clawed their way back to .500. Forgive me if I’m not all sunshine and duck boats, but I don’t think wins over the Sacramento Kings and the Orlando Magic (without Glen Davis and Aaron Afflalo!) tell us anything about where this team stands after the loss of Rajon Rondo (and now Jared Sullinger). The win over the Heat was certainly nice, but the Celtics needed that win far more than the Heat did (also I don’t think the Heat got up for that game) and the Heat have beaten the Celtics when it’s counted in the playoffs two years in a row. There are certainly players that have come alive after Rondo’s injury (Jason Terry comes to mind), but I think it’ll be a bit before we actually see this team play in a game that really helps us gauge where the Celtics are at. For now I’m going to enjoy the grit, grind, hustle, no-quit attitude of this Celtics team and try not to think too hard about it. Lets get to the recap:

• Jeff Green led the team in scoring with 17 points. Doc Rivers said Green would have to pick up some of the rebounding slack, which didn’t really happen because Jeff Green didn’t suddenly become a different basketball player (he had four rebounds in the game). Green rounded out his stat-line with four assists, a steal, and three blocks.
• Paul Pierce was not terrible and unlike Jeff Green he DID pick up the rebounding slack, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in 29 minutes of play. The Captain has now had double digit rebounds three games in a row.
• Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa continued their fantastic post Rondo play (both succeeding for different reasons), combining for 24 points on 10-19 shooting.
• Chris Wilcox played five minutes to Jason Collins’ 11, which while insignificant in the grand scheme of things still fills me with rage.
• Fab Melo played less then both of them, only getting on the court for the final two minutes of the game. That wasn’t unexpected though, and Fab Melo had a hilarious attempt at a rebound which reminded me exactly why I love Fab Melo so much.
• The Celtics as a team had 56 points in the paint and 30 assists on 42 made field goals while shooting 50%. That’s not going to happen every game, but those are some pretty nice numbers, especially for a team playing without a real point guard.

The Celtics continue to play good team basketball but it’s not exactly coming against the stiffest competition. In fact, I should be worried; the Celtics of old would never get up to play a team like Orlando. The C’s next game will come against the Clippers (without Chris Paul), followed by Toronto (meh), and Lakers (who are a mess), so we might not get to see this team face solid competition until next Sunday’s tilt against Denver. Until then, enjoy the Celtics playing hard and hanging tough in the face of adversity.

Follow Jordan on Twitter: @OffensiveG