I've never been one to criticize Doc Rivers for much. I feel like he got too much of the blame for the problems of Celtics past. But I've got to call him out on the minutes his starters are playing.

Coming into the season, all we were hearing is how old the Big 3 was getting and how its in the team's best interests to conserve their minutes early in the season. But Ray Allen... the oldest of them all, and a jump shooter who is a season removed from 2 ankle surgeries, played 40 minutes against the Rockets. 40 fucking minutes. The night after he played 48 minutes!!! His minutes are actually UP from last season.

So it makes abso-fucking-lutely perfect sense why his shooting has gone cold. Jump shooters need their legs. I don't know many 25 year olds who can keep their legs playing those minutes, never mind a guy on the back 9 of his career like Ray Allen.

Bottom line, the Celtics are tired. They look tired. They're playing tired. They're fading down the stretch, missing some open looks, and missing rotations on D. Their shooting percentages are way down across the board, and against the Rockets, the Celtics put up a season low 11 points in the 4th quarter. It all adds up to a tired team.

C's lose 89-85.

Does anyone have ANY confidence heading into Cleveland?

John - Red's Army