Celtics Tankometer stalls at the All-Star break, Philly setting the gold standard

Boston went 2-2 in their last four games heading into the break, but the pair of victories came against two of the worst teams in the NBA (Sacramento and Milwaukee).  After a bizarre scheduling stretch that had them play 5 of 6 games vs the league's bottom four teams (also Orlando and Philadelphia twice), the road ahead is about to get a lot tougher.

The combination of Avery Bradley's mysterious ankle injury that doesn't seem to be getting better (hmm, an excuse to hold him out?), along with Rajon Rondo being "rested" twice in a three game span this week implies a distinct disinterest in trying to field their best lineup.

However, the 19-35 Celtics have a lot of work to do if they're going to try to catch division rival Philly in the tank department -- since beating Boston on Jan. 29 the Sixers (15-39) have dropped 8 straight, including back to back losses to the Clippers (in which they trailed at one point 89-33; that's the kind of score you see when the UConn women play Prairie View A&M in a 1 vs 16 NCAA tourney matchup, and even then it's surprising) and Warriors by the scores of 123-78 and 123-80.

The trade deadline is also looming next Thursday, and I'd be shocked if Danny Ainge didn't make a move or two that makes the C's worse now, but hopefully better down the road.  Any combination of Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, Jeff Green, and Avery Bradley could end up on their way out the door.

For now the Tankometer stays put at 54%, but I'm expecting to see a sharp uptick in the near future.

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