A look at where a handful of stand following the first week of play:
Boston Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen (20) passes between New Orleans Hornets small forward Trevor Ariza, left, point guard Jarrett Jack, second right, and center Emeka Okafor in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The Hornets won 97-78. A look at where a handful of Celtics stand following the first week of play:
Flying high
SG Ray Allen: 20 ppg, 3.5 apg, 58.3 3P%
Allen continues to be the steadiest performer on the Celtics roster at the advanced age of 36. He's connected on 58.1 percent of his shots and at times looks to be the only member of the team in decent shape.
PG Rajon Rondo: 18.8 ppg, 9.0 apg, 54 FG%
Friday night’s game against the Pistons aside, Rondo was, if nothing else, the most explosive player on the court for the Celtics throughout the week. In games against the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, he consistently looked to get to the rim and scored 53 points in a two-game span, tying a career high. However, he faded against New Orleans (13 points) and disappeared against the Pistons (nine points). We need to see more of the Rondo that showed up the first two games.
SF Paul Pierce: 12 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5 apg
The captain only played in one game but his presence was enough to help the Celtics end a three-game losing skid. Now we need to see if he’s in good enough shape to keep it going the rest after participating in just one practice prior injuring his right heel.
In the doghouse
PF Kevin Garnett: 9.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg
Right now, Garnett is a hindrance to Celtics success each time he steps on the court. Garnett has always had an affinity for taking the 16-foot jumper, but he hardly ventured into the paint this past week and is averaging just one shot per game at the rim, down from 3.4 last year. At this point, they should just sit him down in a lawn chair at the elbow if he doesn't want to venture inside every now and then.
C Jermaine O’Neal: 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg
O’Neal had a fantastic game Friday night (19 points, seven rebounds), but it doesn’t bode well when you can tweet early in the first half that his eight points tied his combined total for the first three games. And then there’s his line against Miami: 21 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound. Not a good week for the center.
PG Avery Bradley: 0.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.3 apg
Whether it’s his fault or not, Bradley has failed to gain confidence from head coach Doc Rivers, who announced earlier this week that rookie E’Twaun Moore has moved ahead of him on the depth chart. He may just need time to get it going, but it doesn’t look like those minutes are ever going to come in Boston.