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

The Celtics are back in the warm and forgiving confines of the Eastern Conference now. This week will be spent on games against Detroit tonight, Brooklyn tomorrow, Miami Wednesday and New York Friday.

Only one of those opponents is currently in the East’s playoff bracket, and the Heat is there with a record four games shy of .500.

This is a week in which the Celts should strengthen the foundation of their playoff hopes, utterly pyrrhic though they may be against the backdrop of the higher-quality Western Conference and even the better handful atop the East. But they can do so only with a dose of hard self-examination. The charter aircraft that brought the Celtics home from San Antonio yesterday was stocked with 12 presumably humbled players. If the club is lucky, said players were also made wiser by the events of the previous evening.

Boston Herald – Humbled Celtics need to learn from their losses out west

Pistons tonight without Smart and Thomas. Brooklyn tomorrow (won four of  their last five), 7th seed Miami on Wednesday, and then the New York Tankerbockers on Friday. A particularly important week for the quest of the 8th seed, when considering the direct implications wins over the Nets and Heat would create. Not sure where Isaiah Thomas stands (or if he can even stand), but it’s crucial to get him back at some point this week, hopefully by the time we play the Heat. It’d actually be pretty cool to see him return against the team that he last played against…and torch them in the Garden.

The Celtics lost their last two games but have somehow managed to gain sole ownership of the 8th seed in that process. They’ve now got a chance to put some distance between themselves and the teams close behind. The playoff hunt kinda reminds me of a Walking Dead episode — Brad Stevens looks back from the 8th seed and sees Paul George and Al Jefferson hunched over drooling, chasing him. Deron Williams with his weathered headband is crawling nearby in the distance. Lance Stevenson is repeatedly walking into a glass door.

I won’t make any predictions for the week but 4-0 would be cool. And I apologize to our readers for my awful attempt at cropping.

Page 2: Steve Nash retired from the NBA yesterday

I’m retiring.

I heard someone once say there comes a day when they tell us all that we can’t play anymore. We’re not good enough. Surplus to requirements. Too slow, maybe. When you’re a teenager with outsized dreams and a growing obsession, and someone tells you this ain’t gonna last forever, it’s scary. I never forgot it.

So what did I do? Stayed obsessed. Set goals. Worked. Dreamed. Schemed. Pushed myself beyond what was normal or expected. I looked at my hero, Isiah Thomas, and thought to myself, “OK, I’m nowhere near the player he is but if I get better every day for 5 or 10 years, why can’t I be as good as him?”

Players’ Tribune – Life after basketball

Steve Nash is sliced bread. A game-changer, been around for a really long time, and completely held the offense together. Nash announced his retirement yesterday via the Players’ Tribune and at 41 years old, it was about damn time. Nash’s career effectively ended sometime last year, as he’s only played 15 games since the end of the 2012-13 season (although he’s collected nearly $18m from the Lakers over the past two seasons…cool). Some of Nash’s fans are/were likely holding hope that he’d join a contender mid-season next year and contribute in chase of a ring, but Nash doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d un-retire once the call’s been made. Cheers to an awesome and historic career.

The rest of the links:

CSNNE – Isaiah Thomas breaks down his own film

SB Nation – Don’t forget how Steve Nash changed the NBA

Grantland – Distant Thunder: What did OKC’s media do to piss of Westbrook and Durant?