Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I think that (Kelly) Olynyk and (Jared) Sullinger and (Rajon) Rondo are very smart and really know how to move the ball. They can invert their offense, which is always hard to do.

“If you keep Sullinger and Olynyk on the perimeter, you make a lot of bigger guys into fish out of water out there trying to guard them. Then the guys cut and have some movement behind them. They get layups on cuts and stuff like that. And Sullinger and Olynyk can both shoot the ball good enough that you’ve got to at least be out there on them.

“It’s a different type team, and I think Brad (Stevens) does a really good job with them.”

But McHale is aware that Ainge still has work to do on the roster.

“They’re still probably missing that next-level player that you can say, ‘OK, we can go to this guy, and he can get us a shot. He can break down a double-team or he can break down his guy and all that stuff,’ ” McHale said. “But I like what they’re doing. They’re a tough team to defend.”

Boston Herald – Celtics Notebook: Kevin McHale still has green in his eyes

Last night probably wasn’t the best example of how the C’s can succeed by keeping Olynyk and Sullinger near the perimeter. Yeah, pulling Dwight Howard outside of the paint is necessary to some degree, but when your bigs go 0-5 from three, (and the team is 0-20), there isn’t much incentive to chase guys all the way out. Howard only had two blocks, but he managed to keep the defense anchored and we didn’t really see any easy buckets in the paint until garbage minutes.The Rockets did have eight blocks as a team and — gag — Jason Terry had two of them.

As far as missing a guy who can break down double-teams and get quality shots off, I’m sure Ainge is aware of the need. The Nets game was a nice glimpse of what an offense full of ball movement can look like, but the truth remains that you need star guys to beat other star guys. Harden’s tricky ball handling landed him 14 free throw attempts — all of which he made — and it forced Avery Bradley to the bench with foul trouble in the process. As Chuck pointed out in last night’s recap, some of AB’s fouls were pretty unneeded, but Harden was smart enough to get the most out of Bradley’s pressure.

Now the hard part remains finding the right guy to go after through trade. We can try a stopgap type guy (Emeka Okafor, Kendrick Perkins type guys), and then roll the dice in free agency. The only issue I see is that the premier bigs either seem committed to their teams (Gasol, Aldridge, Jordan), or have some other type of flag (Hibbert’s collapse, Brook Lopez’s injuries). We can chase Omer Asik, Greg Monroe, or  maybe Robin Lopez, but I don’t see any of those guys becoming what McHale describes. Plus with an untapped keg full off first round draft picks, I think it’s time for Trade Danny to throw a banger.

Page 2: Rondo dunks in-game for the first time since he tore his ACL

Masslive – Video: Rajon Rondo’s first in-game dunk for Boston Celtics since night he tore ACL

The shots weren’t really falling for Rondo last night (2-9), and some of the misses really weren’t close at all. But if there were a lone bright spot to his shooting performance last night, this dunk showing his knee can handle the pressure would be it. Nothing earth shattering, but still. Rondo made up for the iffy scoring output with 10 boards, eight assists (albeit on a night nobody could hit shots), and three steals. He did have five turnovers, but maybe Rondo was just trying to trick Daryl Morey and the Rockets staff into thinking he’s not worth trading for.

The rest of the links:

ESPN – Warriors send Lakers to 0-4 start – Westbrook out at least four weeks

Grantland – Why did LeBron and the Cavs get benched by the Knicks

CelticsBlog – Houston hands Celtics their first loss