Your Morning Dump... Where what even are the Celtics?

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.

Can't escape the Celtics' struggles vs. top tier. Have now played Cavs, Warriors, Spurs, Raptors, Rockets: 0-5.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) December 10, 2016

Adam Himmelsbach makes a point that, at first and maybe even second glance appears to make sense.

The Celtics are 0-5 against teams with better records. However, it’s also true that Boston has been down at least one starter in three of those games, with only the games against San Antonio and the first part of the Houston featuring two teams matching up starter for starter (IT was playing, but injured in the second half of the Houston game). Yes, it’s true that Demarre Carroll was out for the Raptors Friday night, but if you think that Carroll is as important for Toronto’s success as IT is for Boston’s, well, then, we probably can’t have a sensible conversation about much of anything.

Last season the team debuted those “We are one superstar” t-shirts that sort of captured the team’s scrappy/chip-on-the-shoulder/never-say-never attitude. It also highlighted the fragile character of that team–something that was brought into sharp relief when the team fell apart after Avery Bradley went down in the first round.

This isn’t like the first LeBron Cavs or the Doug Collins Bulls, where the Celtics can carry on with the loss of one or two rotation players, as long as their superstar is still available. The whole dang rotation is the star. Lose a couple of those guys for a couple weeks and you throw the whole system out of whack.

So, basically, I look at it this way: Yeah, the Celtics’ season so far has been a disappointment–but not so much from the sense that they’ve missed on opportunities to ‘move forward’ as it is that this team is so susceptible to injuries to rotation players.

Page 2: Where IT understands how sports radio works

“They gotta write something. They say the stupidest things so they get the headlines and everybody can talk about it,”

“But people that say that they don’t even believe it. They go home at night, they’re not believing that. They’re just saying it to get a reaction. I’m trying my best not to react”

MassLive

Shorter IT:

Finally: IT takes no prisoners in NBA2k

How do you pass time when you're injured? Video games on JumboTron. Isaiah Thomas and his 2K Clippers in an early hole. pic.twitter.com/f0ghYEsPeU

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) December 9, 2016