The only teams that are scoring fewer points than the Celtics - the Clippers, Bobcats, Grizzlies, Nets, and Thunder - have the records to match their output.
Almost everyone in green will acknowledge that the Celtics, who are averaging 93.4 points per game, haven't been able to find any consistency so far, and their offense is being overshadowed by their third-ranked defense.
But for the time being, the Celtics (7-1) are willing to live with it. The consensus is that the offense will come around, and until it does, the defense is good enough to make up for it.
"We are nowhere near on all cylinders,"
said point guard Rajon Rondo. "Thank goodness our defense is 10 steps ahead of our offense right now; otherwise, we'd be in trouble. But we're going to get it, we're going to get in there, hang in there, and keep executing."
The slow start offensively doesn't surprise Rondo.
"We only had a month off,"
he said. "Guys are tired. Last year, we had three months to prepare. Even though we are still on the same page with each other, you still have to get back and get a rhythm."
"It's coming along,"
said coach Doc Rivers, whose team takes on the Atlanta Hawks at TD Banknorth Garden tonight. "It'll be there. I'm not worried about it, to be honest. We're getting good shots. They're not going in right now. It's not a concern."
Having a dominant defense as their calling card makes it easy to consider offense an afterthought. So far, the century mark has been an invisible ceiling for Celtics opponents; the teams that came closest were Houston (99) and Indiana (95). But the task is making sure their defensive tunnel vision doesn't stop them from seeing where they need to improve on offense.
Through eight games last season, the Celtics were averaging 102.8 points. But this season, they've been plagued by slow starts and slumping stars - an unlikely dip in production from Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce.
In six of their eight games, the Celtics have found themselves down after the first quarter.
"It's something that's going to be a work in progress,"
said Garnett. "We're not a perfect team, we do have flaws, and if I was going to pick one out, that would be it."
"It's kind of good that our defense is ahead of our offense right now, because we're able to lean on that a little bit. But as the year goes, I'm pretty sure we'll get better at that."
According to Garnett, Rivers made it a point to talk to the players before Monday's game against Toronto about starting faster. Then the Celtics missed 11 of 16 shots and fell behind by 5 points in the first quarter.
"Yeah, that went over well,"
Rivers joked.
What concerns Rivers is the possibility that poor offense can seep into the way the Celtics play defense.
"I thought that because we were missing layups and open shots, it carried to the defensive end, and that's not a trait of ours,"
said the coach. "We've got a bunch of guys hanging their heads, and they were lighting us up on the other end."
The Celtics missed four layups against Toronto.
"We don't have a flow,"
Rondo said. "We don't have a consistent play we can go to and get a lot of scoring. In spurts, we maybe can run [a go-to play] two or three times. But last season, we'd call one set for an entire quarter and teams couldn't stop us. It's just about getting back to execution, that's all. I feel we'll get it."
Eddie House remembers one instance when, coming out of a timeout, the play called for him to set a screen, and he just didn't. Little things like spacing and execution, he said, are hindering the offense.
"Once we get that done and take care of the little things like Doc always preaches,"
he said, "we'll be all right."
In the meantime, he said, "I'd rather be in a defensive rhythm than an offensive rhythm anyway. The offense will come, but we are maintaining our defense."
The NBA unveiled the ballot for the 2009 All-Star Game in Phoenix, and all five Celtics starters are on it. It is the first time in Rondo's three-year career that he has been on the ballot, and it's the first appearance for sixth-year center Kendrick Perkins as well . . . With five games in seven days this week, Rivers gave players the day off yesterday . . . Tonight will be the first time the Celtics and Hawks have met since the young Atlanta team took Boston to seven games in the first round of the playoffs last spring.
