C's Drop Fourth in a Row

Boston welcomed back Avery Bradley on Wednesday night, who played in his first game this season, but it still was not enough. The Celtics continued their losing ways, dropping their fourth game in a row by double digits to the Grizzlies at the Garden. Boston was nearly able to come back as they closed an 18 point lead down to five with just a few minutes remaining, but Memphis finished strong and escaped with the win.
It was good to see Bradley back on the floor, and the team appeared to be playing hard, but the Grizzlies just had too much fire power for the Celtics to handle. Mike Conley Jr. had a game high 23 points to go with nine assists and Tony Allen had a nice homecoming with 15 points. Paul Pierce led the way for Boston with 17, but scored most of them early before going ice cold. Rajon Rondo played through a hip injury finishing with 11 points and 10 assists, Jeff Green chipped in 10 off the bench in only 14 minutes.
Bradley showed nothing special on the offensive end in his return, playing 19 minutes and scoring four points for 2-for-6 shooting with no rebounds or assists. Bradley presence however is expected to be felt more on the defensive side of the floor where he always plays with high energy.
The Celtics now sport a 14-17 record on the season, not what they were expecting after bolstering up their bench in the off season. Something needs to change soon and the team aspect of the game needs to come alive as it has in past years for the Celtics. The road ahead gets no easier as they play three of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference: Indiana at home Friday, at Atlanta Saturday, and at New York Knicks on Monday. If Boston fails to pick up the slack in these next three games they could be pretty deep on the outside looking in at the playoffs.