The All-Star break was great. A chance to forget about the blown halftime leads. A few days to escape the harsh reality of missed opportunities and lost games. Paul Pierce won the Three-Point Shootout. Rajon Rondo suddenly couldn’t miss from three-point range. Injury troubles were nil. Not even the worst dunk contest in the country’s history could make things seem bad. For a few days, the troubles of an under-performing team were put on hold.

But vacations don’t last forever. Breaks come to an end. And the troubles remain, as do the questions surrounding the aging and struggling Celtics. Read more »

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “A possible trade partner could be Sacramento, with shooting guard Kevin Martin, who is signed for three more years as part of a five-year, $55 million package. Martin has been an awkward fit for the Kings since the emergence of rookie Tyreke Evans. It is unclear whether Martin can mesh with a score-first point guard such as Evans. But acquiring Martin might be contingent on accepting the contract of Andres Nocioni, who has two more years on his deal. According to Celtics sources, the organization is not interested in taking on ‘bad contracts’’ that could hurt salary cap space. Also, the Kings are seeking a legitimate center to play alongside cornerstone Jason Thompson and aren’t eager to deal Martin if they can’t get one in return.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “This season, motivation … and focus … and discipline … and defense … and (you get the picture) … have all been difficult to come by consistently. There have been injuries galore. There’s been talk about different players having different agendas. There have been more head-scratching defeats this year than the previous two years combined. Despite all those issues, the Celtics still believe in their heart of hearts, that they can win it all. ‘Without a doubt,’ said big man Rasheed Wallace. ‘If you’re not hungry to win a championship, what are you playing for?’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “The irony is that the Celtics are a defensive team, the best in the league, in fact. Boston has held opponents to an NBA-best 93.7 points per game this season. But recently a disturbing pattern of allowing the opposition one big offensive quarter has emerged, most notably when the Magic outscored Boston 36-11 in the third quarter of Orlando’s 96-89 victory Sunday at the TD Garden. In each of their previous four games, the Celtics gave up a 28-point quarter or worse, including a 30-point second quarter against the Nets, a 28-point fourth quarter against the Heat, a 31-point second quarter against the Wizards and a 30-point first quarter against the Lakers.”

Jim Fenton, MetroWest Daily News – “They were serenaded with some boos by the crowd at the TD Garden on Sunday afternoon, a rare occurrence in recent seasons. At least the struggling Boston Celtics won’t have to worry about that happening again for a couple of weeks. Beginning tonight, the Celtics play five straight games away from Causeway Street, taking their disappointing act on the road with one game before the NBA All-Star break and four more to follow. With 33 games remaining in the regular season, the Celtics are in desperate need of a jump start, and the latest challenge will be taking place with road games against some quality teams.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.