Celtics fans can remain angry about the departure of Al Horford and Gordon Hayward , but they really should admit The Green sorely miss what that pair supplied. Conversely, it was quickly apparent that the Kyrie Irving -in-Boston experiment was a failure - partly due to him not being the best of teammates - but also the fact that Celtics team was simply a bad mix. We may be looking at that once again. Hordford was brought on board in 2016, followed by Irving and Hayward in 2017. All three left Boston of their own volition, but Irving's acquisition was a mistake. Not so with Gordon and Al. Boston misses them. The current Celtics crew is mired in 9th place in the East with a 15-17 record - the same as the lowly Knicks. That last stat alone merits roster (or higher-level) changes. Youth, injuries and Covid aside, we are looking at a bad mix of players . There is no synergy - no coordination - no cooperation . There will be no spontaneous fix here. Some type of change is needed. What
The Celtics remain mired in sixth place in the East with a losing (15-16) record. Expect things to change after the All-Star break, and certainly post-Trade-Deadline (March 25). That change could be in the form of different lineups, tweaks to the style or pace - or finally, some new faces. Boston's rotation is suddenly solidifying. Jeff Teague's appearances are dwindling, but Tristan Thompson seems to be finding his niche. Rookie Aaron Nesmith has emerged from the mist, averaging 22.7 minutes per game over the last five contests. Over that span, he has hit 7-of-14 from the field - 4-of-10 on 3-pointers - and collected an encouraging 4.2 rebounds per game. Expect to see more of the ever-moving sharp-shooter after the break. Grant Williams seems to fading into the mist from whence Nesmith emerged, playing only seven minutes in Boston's loss to the Mavericks last night. Rob Williams? He saw 14 minutes in the loss, and despite some very-obvious improvement in his game, it