The Boston Celtics have been a top tier team since they traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. These two superstars and Paul Pierce didn’t do it alone as Boston had front court players to make an impact on both offense and defense.

This isn’t the case in Boston anymore as the Celtics rely on an injury prone Jermaine O’Neal to help the “Big Three” bring them back to the NBA Finals.

In season number 16, Garnett is old and isn’t even a shell of the 2007-08 version of KG when the Celtics won the NBA Championship. Kendrick Perkins was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for small forward Jeff Green, who is out for the season, and center Nenad Kristic, who is playing in Russia. Shaquille O’Neal, who was old and washed up in his only season with the Celtics last year, retired.

This leaves the Celtics starting front court with players in the twilight of their careers in Garnett and O’Neal.

Jermaine O’Neal was once a great player as he went to six consecutive All-Star games from 2002-to-2007. He could score with his back to the basket at an elite level and then learned how to hit a mid-range jump shot.

Then he blew out his knees. O’Neal hasn’t played in more than 70 games a season since the 2003-04 season when he was with the Indiana Pacers. His points per game have dropped every year since the 2005-06 season while his rebounding numbers went up and down until plummeting to a career low last season at 3.7 rebounds per game.

This season he is scoring seven ppg and grabbing 3.8 rpg.

He is already missing games in a shortened and condensed 66-game season. In a post on ESPN Boston, Chris Forsberg states O’Neal has a tense hamstring. The soreness didn’t keep him out of the game, the athletic staff did.

The wear and tear on his body is only going to get worse. I don’t think the strategy of holding him out of games to preserve his body for the playoffs is going to work either. He may be a veteran player but it’s hard to stay in a rhythm playing every other game or so.

When O’Neal was pulled for the Celtics game against the Washington Wizards on Monday, rookie Greg Stiemsma received the start. The six-foot eleven-inch center from the University of Wisconsin scored 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

The rookie’s performance is worthy of a nice pat on the back, but can the Celtics rely on an undrafted rookie to carry the load in the paint? Stiemsma scored two points and had four rebounds against the New Orleans Hornets on Dec. 28. The center recorded 21 minutes in the Wizards game and 20 in the Hornets game.

I hate to say this, but I’d rather rely on an old, washed up, cagy veteran than a wet behind the ears center who wasn’t even drafted.

If O’Neal, Garnett and Stiemsma are the Celtics only options, meaning they don’t make any roster changes, the Boston Celtics are in trouble.Teams are going to beat the Celtics up in the middle whether it’s by physical domination or creating foul trouble.

If the Celtics lose in the paint, they’ll lose many regular season games and possibly a first round playoff match up. Allen and Pierce can’t shoot the Celtics’ way to a seven-game series victory against teams such as the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat or the New York Knicks.

O’Neal can’t be the guy the Celtics rely on to help them win games or to stay healthy.

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DeMarcus Cousins may be the NBA’s problem child of the moment right now, but don’t tell that to the Boston Celtics’ Danny Ainge. Ainge is apparently among those angling for Cousins, and few fans I know here in Massachusetts would mind seeing the young center in a green and white uniform, attitude and all. Okay, maybe that’s an oversimplification. There are a few Cs fans who think that Cousins is simply too hot to handle, just not worth whatever he’d cost in a trade. Nevertheless, we need a center, and there aren’t many options left.

We all knew that Ainge wasn’t done trading, especially considering the fact that every big deal he pushed for in that oh-so-short offseason fell through. That said, Ainge has a pretty good post-lockout record as far as the low-key moves he actually has been able to make. Greg Stiemsma and Brandon Bass come to mind. But few fans have any illusions that Ainge’s roster moves up to now will be enough to hold the Cs through to the postseason and as a solid a title shot as we could hope for on this last hurrah for the big three.

Make no mistake, Stiemsma and Bass have had some eye-popping minutes on the court, but their performances so far are really just pleasant surprises for Cs fans. Jeff Green’s sudden health scare and the frustrating fact that Jermaine O’Neal has been, well, garbage (aside from a single game) make it clear that the Cs still need to shore up their roster.

Cousins could be a major contributor, at least if his track-record on the court is any indication. After being picked up by the Sacramento Kings last year, Cousins had enough of a breakout season to earn him All-Rookie First Team honors. In the 2010-11 season, his per-36-minute were 17.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 block.

Five games into the current season, 21-year-old Cousins is no less impressive. While his scoring has gone down a tick (it’s just five games), it’s clear that he’s a dominant rebounder (which is what the Cs need). His per-36-minute averages so far are 15.4 points, 14.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.9 blocks.

So far, only one player on the entire Cs roster has averaged double-digit rebounding per 36 minutes. That’s Chris Wilcox, who’s averaged 10.9 in his limited time on the court. Combine that with the fact that Kevin Garnett is essentially at a career-low in rebounding per game, with 6.3, and per 36 minutes, with 7.5, and it’s not hard to see how Cousins make a real difference on this Cs team.

Taurus Londono has lived in Massachusetts for over ten years. He is a longtime fan of the Boston Celtics.

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BOSTON — 

Ray Allen had a cold, but he was red hot.

Allen scored a team-high 27 points and made six of seven 3-point attempts to lead the Celtics to their second win over Washington in two nights, 100-92, at the Garden.

Allen said he had a headache, a cough and runny nose the past couple of days.

“It was almost like the cold gave me a reprieve during the game,” Allen said, “and then the minute I sat down in the locker room afterward, my nose just started running and I started coughing again.”

Allen said his illness made him focus more. He scored 11 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter. His first 3-pointer gave Boston the lead for good, 75-74, with 8:56 left. His second made it 89-80 with 4:29 remaining. After Andray Blatche sank three free throws to pull the Wizards within 92-87, Paul Pierce picked off John Wall’s pass and fed Allen for another trey to boost Boston’s lead to eight with 1:30 left.

“My guys got me open tonight,” Allen said. “If you look at any of the shots down the stretch, Kevin (Garnett) made a tough pass, (Rajon) Rondo made a tough pass, Paul made a tough pass. It’s tough for any team to guard that second and third pass.”

But Allen still had to make the shots.

Many of the Celtics appeared tired while playing for the second night in a row and for the third time in four nights. But even with his cold, Allen, the oldest Celtic and 12th oldest player in the NBA at 36 years old, looked as if he was fresh enough to play some more. Allen figured he ran his usual equivalent of four miles in the game while trying to get open.

“Marathon man,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers called Allen. “He was great. He just kept going. I would never want to guard that guy.”

The Celtics have won three in a row to even their record at 3-3 and they’ve back on top of the Atlantic Division, tied with 2-2 Philadelphia.

Allen, the NBA’s record holder for most career 3-pointers, is averaging 20 points and shooting 61.1 percent from threeland, both team highs.

Pierce clinched Boston’s third consecutive victory by draining a trey over Blatche with 30 seconds left make it 98-91.

Pierce finished with a season-high 21 points and eight rebounds. Kevin Bass had 14 points and six boards.

Garnett, a year younger than Allen, appeared exhausted in the fourth quarter when Rivers played him for a longer stretch than usual. In a 94-86 win Sunday night in Washington, Garnett had season highs of 24 points and nine rebounds while helping limit Blatche to 10 points and three rebounds. Last night was a different story. Garnett finished with 10 points, six rebounds and six assists while Blatche led Washington with 28 points and nine rebounds.

Making his first NBA start in place of Jermaine O’Neal, unheralded rookie center Greg Stiemsma finished with more points (13) and rebounds (seven) than Garnett.

“I guess that I never would really picture that,” Stiemsma admitted. “As long as we win, we’re both happy.”

Stiemsma blocked two more shots to give him a team-high 12, but Rivers was more pleased with his willingness to take jump shots when he was open. Stiemsma was so reluctant to shoot in practice a couple of weeks ago, Rivers made him stand in front of the team and recite, “My name is Greg Stiemsma. I’m a shooter.” Stiemsma obviously got the message.

Stiemsma made a quick impact. Just 1:36 into the game, he cleanly blocking Rashard Lewis’s shot, but then collided with him in front of the Wizards bench. Both players fell to the floor. Wizards coach Flip Saunders was slapped with two technical fouls and ejected for arguing that a foul should have been called.

“It was clean up top,” Stiemsma said. “I’ll have to look at the replay to see if I came down on him too hard or not. No whistle, no foul.”

Washington led by point after each of the first three quarters, 24-23, 48-47, and 70-69, but fell to 0-5 start for the second time in four years.

After a rough three games to start the season, the Boston Celtics are happy to have their “Big Three” back in action. Paul Pierce missed the first three games of the season with a lingering bruised right heel but has since returned to average 10.5 points, five rebounds, and four assists through two games, both the Celtics have won.

Kevin Garnet has been performing admirably through five games averaging 13.4 points, 6.4 boards, and three assists. While his rebounding traditionally has been slightly better, it is still far to early in the season to be concerned.

Ray Allen has stepped up his game slightly this season in an attempt to make up for Pierce’s absence averaging 18.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, and three assists through five games.

The best surprise has come from Rajon Rondo who is playing with purpose this season. Through five games he has improved his points scored average to 18.6 while netting 5.8 rebounds and 10 assists per game. Even in the losses in late December, Rondo was putting up strong numbers to keep the Celtics in the game.

Newly acquired Brandon Bass has been fantastic coming off the bench averaging 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists through five games. By comparison, Glen Davis is averaging just 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in five games with the Orlando Magic.

As one of the older teams in the NBA, the Celtics need to take advantage of their experience while at the same time take advantage of the draft and make smart trades if they wish to stat competitive looking past this season.

Regardless of the fact Pierce was out of the lineup for the first three games of the season, Boston still lost games to stronger teams such as the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. I will argue that the New Orleans Hornets loss was a fluke. Wins against the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards are wins nonetheless but those are two teams that are currently not at the top of their game.

Celtics’ fans need not worry this season. Boston will remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and should peak by the time the NBA playoffs roll around. It is moving forward in the years ahead that I am most concerned about if some high quality youth do not join the squad.

More Boston Celtics Commentary from this Contributor:

Boston Celtics drop to 0-3 in loss to New Orleans Hornets: A fan’s reaction

Boston Celtics lose again, fall to Miami Heat 115-107: A fan’s reaction

Boston Celtics drop season opener to New York Knicks 106-104: A fan’s reaction

Sources:

All data provided by NBA.com

Paul Rados is an avid Boston Celtics fan and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook. For a complete look at his freelance work please visit his Blog.

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Read More: Paul Pierce (F – BOS), Kevin Garnett (F – BOS), Rajon Rondo (G – BOS), Doc Rivers (H – BOS), Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics

Celtics Overtime is a postgame feature providing extra news, notes and analysis from each game. Boston defeated the Washington Wizards, 94-86, on New Year’s Day in Washington D.C.

No one expects the Boston Celtics to compete for a championship this season, but there are plenty of expectations that are reasonable. One of which is beating the bad teams. After doing so twice, it looks like things are returning to order.

Boston lost its first three games of the season, losing to two top tier teams in the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat before being blown out by the rebuilding New Orleans Hornets. It’s safe to say that was not what was expected of them.

On Friday night, the Celtics beat up on the Detroit Pistons in the home opener. They followed their first win up with another quality performance against the Washington Wizards in a 94-86 win in D.C. on New Year’s Day. That’s more like it, isn’t it?

Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were the driving forces in the victory. Here’s what the game came down to.

THE BIG TICKET IS BACK (FOR NOW)

If you didn’t know if was 2012 (first of all, you’d be a shut in), you could have sworn that it was 2003 all over again based on Kevin Garnett’s performance in the win over Washington. Garnett finished with a game-high 24 points and collected nine rebounds in 28 minutes for Boston. Watching KG on Sunday was probably the most similar performance we’ll see to his 2003-04 season when he won the MVP award. No, KG doesn’t have as much pop and ferocity as he did then, but to say that he is washed up (as man are suggesting) is hogwash. That’s right, hogwosh. Garnett won’t lead the team in scoring most nights, but when they need him to, he can pull out performances like this. He’s a future HOFer, remember?

RAJON RONDO’s OFFENSE RETURNS

After a brief two-game hiatus, Rajon Rondo’s offense has returned. Rondo finished with his first triple-double of the season (knowing Rondo, it probably won’t be his last), totaling 18 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds. That’s quite the game, isn’t it? With Paul Pierce — the team’s leading scorer since practically forever (or the early 2000s) — working his way back into the lineup, Doc Rivers is in need of points anywhere he can get it. Right now, Rondo’s offense is helping — a lot. If he keeps this up, the Celtics will put themselves in a much better position to contend for that 18th championship.

CELTICS LACKING KILLER INSTINCT

Several times during Sunday’s game, the Celtics had a chance to put the Wizards away for good. As it turns out, they couldn’t do so until the final five minutes of the game. Boston led by 19 at one point in the second half, but the C’s went soft and allowed Washington to get right back into the game. Being only December (and five games into the season), it’s unfair to expect the Celtics to have perfect defensive games. In fact, with the roster in its current shape, it may be unfair to expect consistency on defense (or offense for that matter) at all this season. Still, it is concerning. This is a team that the Celtics should be able to put away easily. Instead, they eased up and let Washington come back. That’s a no-no.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s unfair to a criticize to any team for winning, so only so much can be said about Boston’s inability to put the Wizards away sooner. Overall, it was a solid performance that gave the Celtics their second win in a row. When push comes to shove, these are games that the C’s should be winning. If they keep this up, they’ll be in decent shape.

NEXT UP: Boston won’t have to wait long for its next rematch with Washington. Less than 24 hours, in fact. The Celtics and Wizards will play again in the second game of a back-to-back at 7 p.m. EDT on Monday night at TD Garden. Boston hasn’t done very well in the final game of back-to-backs, so the Celtics may not have as much success on Monday.

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, CelticsBlog.

Earlier this week, we learned that former Boston Celtics guard Ricky Davis signed a contract with the Maine Red Claws, the team’s D-League affiliate in hopes to reach the NBA again. On Sunday, we heard of another, less famous Celtic attempting an NBA comeback.

According to HoopsHype.com, former Celtics guard Michael Finley is looking to make an NBA comeback after a year out of the league. Finley was on the 2010 Celtics roster that lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. He’s also played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs before his stint with Boston.

Finley, 38, has played 16 seasons in the NBA and has averaged 15.7 points per game over his career. While Finley is unlikely to land back with the Celtics, he hopes that the right opportunity comes his way.

“My thing is, I want to play basketball, I would enjoy playing in the D-League, but at the same time I don’t want to take an opportunity away from a young guy to get exposure. I’m still thinking about it. If the right situation comes, where I could be something like a player-coach, maybe I would take that opportunity.” (via Hoops Hype)

For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team page and blog, Celtics Blog

After a season-opening three-game losing streak, the Boston Celtics feel a
whole lot better about things after two straight wins.

Another matchup with the winless Washington Wizards should buoy their
spirits even more.

The Celtics look to even their record with a second victory over the Wizards
in as many days Monday night at TD Garden.

Poor defensive efforts left the four-time Atlantic Division-champion Celtics
with a surprising 0-3 record after road losses to New York, Miami and New
Orleans. Boston tightened up considerably in its home opener to beat Detroit
96-85 on Friday, and rode Rajon Rondo’s 14th career triple-double to a 94-86 win
at Washington on Sunday.

“I just knew he played great. He was sensational all night. He had one of
those nights – he had this last year in stretches – where he just called a good
game, you know, like he’s a great catcher,” coach Doc Rivers said.

Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 24 points in 28 minutes and Rondo had 18
points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for the Celtics (2-3), who have allowed 85.5
points in their wins after yielding an average of 106.0 in the three losses.

“It’s just two games. We had some tough losses the first few games, but
it’s about building and I think that’s what we’re doing right now,” Rondo said.

While the level of competition has certainly played a role, Boston has won
both of its games with Paul Pierce in the lineup after the team’s leading scorer
last season sat out the first three games with a bruised right heel. Pierce has
totaled 21 points on 6-of-17 shooting in two contests, but his presence alone
opens opportunities for teammates.

After playing four of their first five games on the road, the Celtics now
have eight of 10 at home. Boston has won 34 of 42 regular-season games on its
own court.

Rondo especially won’t mind facing the Wizards for a second consecutive day.
He has averaged 16.6 points and 11.5 assists in the last eight meetings.

The Wizards (0-4) will try to avoid their first 0-5 start since 2008-09, but
will have to win in Boston for only the second time in seven games to do that.
Washington – the league’s only winless team – has lost its last two visits to TD
Garden by a combined 47 points.

A weak offense continues to be a major problem for the Wizards, who are
averaging a league-worst 83.5 points on 39.1 percent shooting.

Washington did have four players in double figures Sunday, but shot 28.2
percent in the first half and faced a 17-point deficit at the break. The Wizards
missed all nine of their 3-point attempts in the opening half and finished 2 of
16.

“We’re getting good shots. We missed nine shots inside of 4 feet,” Wizards
coach Flip Saunders said.

John Wall had his best all-around game of the season with 19 points on
6-of-13 shooting, eight assists and seven rebounds. Wall, who was 10 for 37 from
the field in this season’s first three games, has averaged 19.8 points in four
career contests against the Celtics.

In their first game of 2012, the Boston Celtics enjoyed a brilliant effort by Rajon Rondo to beat the Washington Wizards 94-86 on January 1. Rondo recorded the NBA’s first triple-double of the 2011-12 season with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists in just under 34 minutes of action. Boston held the Wizards to only 34 first-half points and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Celtics improved to 2-3 while the Wizards fell to 0-4.

Rondo dissected the Wizards’ defense en route to six assists in the first eight minutes of the game. He powered the Celtics to an early 10-2 run to go up 21-11. Much to the delight of Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett started looking for his shot early; he tallied six points and three rebounds in less than six minutes of first quarter action and led all scorers with 24 in the game. Boston led 28-17 through the first 12 minutes.

Led by strong play by Brandon Bass and Greg Stiemsma, the Celtics’ second unit did a good job of maintaining the lead against the Wizards’ reserves. Washington’s starters came in and ran off six straight points against Boston’s bench, but the Celtics’ first unit returned and immediately ran off eight straight of their own. The Celtics’ reunited starting five overwhelmed Washington and ran up a lead as big as 19 in the second quarter. They went into halftime up 51-34.

In the second-half, the recent struggles of the Celtics’ interior defense were apparent again. Penetration was met with little resistance inside as the Celtics’ lead was shaved to as few as seven. Rondo continued to look like the best player on the floor as he facilitated most of Boston’s offense; he already had a double-double midway through the third quarter. His work made up for most of the defensive shortcomings and the Celtics were back up by 13 entering the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth, the Celtics’ offense temporarily stalled with Rondo out of the game. Consecutive jumpers by Stiemsma and Ray Allen kept the Wizards from erasing the bulk of the deficit. Rondo’s return pushed the lead back to double-figures almost instantly; in just 1:04, Rondo sparked a 6-0 run to increase the Celtics’ lead from seven to 13 midway through the fourth. Their lead remained in double-digits until the final minute when the Wizards scored six straight in garbage time to make the final score appear closer than the game itself.

With a comfortable lead for most of the game, the Celtics were able to keep their starters’ minutes in check; only Rondo, Allen and Bass played 30-plus. That puts them in good shape entering tomorrow, January 2, when they meet the Wizards again for the second-half of their home-and-home.

Sources:

Boston at Washington, Sunday, January 1, 2012, NBA—Yahoo! Sports

NBA.com: Stats

William Menna is a native New Englander and longtime Boston sports fan.

More from this contributor:

Pierce returns, sparks Celtics past Pistons in home opener

Bruins’ latest winning streak snapped in Dallas

Celtics can’t find the hoop, drop to 0-3 in loss to Hornets

Still without Pierce, Celtics’ comeback falls short against Heat

Celtics drop 2011-12 season opener to Knicks

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AS Roma have confirmed Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett is now a shareholder in the club.

The 35-year-old accepted the offer from James Pallotta, one of the four Boston-based executives who purchased the team in August.

Garnett has made no secret of his passion for football – and is also a big fan of Chelsea and Didier Drogba.