Bulls 100 - Celtics 89 : Celtics Embarrassed, Lose 3rd Straight

The Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said it best after the embarrassing loss to the Chicago Bulls last night. After watching his team sleep walk through the first three quarters and then totally lay down in the fourth he frankly addressed the media on the current state of the Celtics simply saying, "This team is not a good team right now."

The Celtics have lost three straight games and are now 12-12 on the season. They haven't won more than two games in a row all year. Their defense has been mediocre all season and the bench, which was touted as one of the best second units ever put together in the Big Three Era, has been underwhelming at best.  Doc's just looking at the facts, and bottom line the Celtics are under performing as a group in the first 24 games of the year. 

The Celtics went down early by double digits in the second quarter  and did show some life fighting back to make the game close at the end of the half and for the majority of the third quarter. Going in to the fourth quarter the Celtics were only down nine in what was a manageable deficit but the Celtics apparently had no aspiration to fight and claw their way to a win. 

All night they had no answer for the Bulls big men down low. Joakim Noah had his 2nd career triple double, while Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson both had double digit points. This has been a trend all year for the Celtics. However, in the fourth quarter the Celtics and in particular Rajon Rondo decided not to defend the outside and let Nate Robinson go nuts putting up 18 and11 in the fourth quarter. 

The Celtics went down big in the fourth as Robinson and the Bulls opened the lead to 20 points and the Celtics limped back into the locker room with their tails in between their legs. 

The Celtics bench had 16 points combined, outscored by Nate Robinson alone.  Pierce and Garnet both  had lack luster forgettable performance. Jason Terry had only 2 points for the game and was a -18 when out on the floor. Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger were a combine 1-12.  

Bright spot for the C's after this one was Rajon Rondo's shooting. He was hitting his mid range jumpers last night and ended the game with 23 points. This is something that Rondo should make an effort to do more.  If he can score more while still running the offense and getting others involved, lets just say the season could quickly turn around. 

In other good news, Avery Bradley is nearing closer to a return as he has been participating in full contact practice. Every Celtics fan is begging for Bradley to return as soon as possible and see what his affect on this lineup will be.