As Steve Bulpett points out, there really isn’t enough being said about how much pain Avery Bradley is playing through (and playing well through by the way). His shoulder popped out for like the 20th time (or something like that) and Doc was ready to sub him out, but Bradley shot his free throws, at some point the shoulder slipped back in the socket, and he waived Doc off and kept playing for a few minutes.

The temptation would be to let him sit and recover, but the team is getting little from Ray Allen right now and really, really needs Bradley on the floor.

Bradley battles on – BostonHerald.com

While plus/minus numbers can at times be deceiving because of who is with you on the floor, Bradley’s consistency in this area makes his digits ring true. He is a plus-35 in the series, and that includes Game 2 when the Celts lost by one yet were 18 points ahead in the 20:14 that Bradley was on the court. The Celtics lost by nine on Friday, but they were a plus-12 in Bradley’s 27:24 of playing time.

Of course the problem is, how long can the kid keep it up?

Shoulder keeps Bradley out of practice

“It came out and went right back, which is crazy. It’s a tough thing what he’s going through. A lot of players would not be playing, I’ll say that,” Doc Rivers said. “He’s dealing with stuff. It’s just tough. It really is. I swear a lot of people would not be playing and the only reason he is, is because he wants to. I am concerned at some point that he may not be able to anymore. We don’t know what game that is, we don’t know what day he can finish it and we can keep going all the way and he can play and tomorrow could be his last game.”

Nails. As in the kid is tough as them.

WALTHAM, Mass. — Two of the bigger topics on this day were Avery Bradley’s ailing left shoulder and Kevin Garnett’s offensive aggression, but here’s a few more nuggets from the Celtics’ media access before the team practiced Sunday afternoon at HealthPoint:

* Film don’t lie: Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it’s not difficult to show his team what went wrong in kicking away an 18-point lead during Friday’s Game 4 loss in Philadelphia. Just hit play.

WALTHAM, Mass. — Celtics center Kevin Garnett admitted he wasn’t in a good rhythm in Friday’s Game 4 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, but coach Doc Rivers still wants him to be more aggressive with the ball in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Garnett finished 3-of-12 shooting with 9 points and 11 rebounds in Friday’s loss that evened the series at two games apiece, but that was a steep drop-off after starting the series by shooting 63.

Bradley did not participate in Sunday’s afternoon workout and is officially a game-time decision for Monday’s Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series (though the expectation is that he will likely play).

Looking back at May 16^th “Per Diem” article by John Hollinger at ESPN Insider, which was written after the Celtics-Sixers series was tied after 2 games, I found a little bit of comfort. Since the C’s lost on Friday to drop back to 2-2 in the series, my hopes of being one of the 31% of fans at CelticsBlog that thought it would be the “Celtics in 5 games” were dashed. Most (43%) thought that the Celtics would win in 6 games, but the truth will likely be Boston in 7 because that’s just how the Celtics seem to handle home-court advantage (HCA) since Garnett and Allen arrived.

Before the Celtics trouncing of the Sixers in Game 3 and their demise in the last 3 quarters of Game 4, Hollinger proclaimed that the series has “7 games written all over it”. It certainly does at this point.

Boston has the HCA, and so still has a slight edge to winning the series . . . incorporating some power ratings into the probability equation, TeamRankings.com currently has the Celtics’ odds of winning at 56%. Just what were the “Celtics in 5″ contingent seeing through those green-colored glasses – a green smoke cloud rising up after the dominating Game3 win didn’t help the emotional stability of the Celtics homers such as myself.

The Celtics were heavily favored at the outset of this series because their starting five simply has more talent and have put up better numbers than the Sixers starting five during the course of the regular season. As Hollinger stated:

“Boston’s Rondo-Pierce-Bass-Garnett group, regardless of who plays the 2, was plus-12.3 points per 48 minutes according to NBA.com’s advanced stats tool. For the Sixers, the starting five they’ve used in the playoffs was a ghastly minus-21.2 in the regular season; even if one subtracts newly promoted Evan Turner from the equation, the other four were minus-0.7 together.”

But then comes along the 76ers bench. Philadelphia has had one of the best benches all year and they are proving it in these playoffs. Taking a quick look at production of the bench versus starters, Philly’s bench is one of the few teams that has a bench that actually outperforms the starters on a per minute basis. Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young and Jodie Meeks make a formidable trio of scorers that Philly uses to close out games, and indeed they were game-changers in the comeback victory on Friday. Of course, Andre Iguodala has been proving to be a clutch performer time and again as well.

Looking at the plus-minus for Game 4, Ray Allen – who has become Celtics token “scorer off the bench that used to score” – was a horrible minus 24 for the game while Lou-Will for the 76ers was a plus 28. These numbers don’t lie, and the Celtics had better find an alternative to relying on Ray. Ray is certainly better than what he’s been able to serve up, which simply points to his right ankle injury being a severe limitation to his defensive play, and has more obviously been a factor in his shooting. His free throw shooting as been a dismal 60% in the playoffs and he has a 28% 3-point pct. Ray Allen – a premier free throw shooter – shooting 60% from the line? Is that worth trotting out as the Celtics go deeper in the playoffs?

At this point, why not get some energy out there with the stable of guards the Celtics have in Marquis Daniels, Keyon Dooling and Sasha Pavlovic? But the one guy I’m waiting for is the Celtics’ E’Twaun Moore Moment that was predicted by Doc Rivers at the end of the regular season.

“E’Twaun, who no one talks about, he’s going to play in the playoffs somewhere and help us in a game.”

As Peter May wrote, Celtics fans had a brief glimpse of what Moore is capable of doing when he had 16 points in 18 minutes in helping the Celtics rally from a 27-point deficit in Orlando to beat the Magic on Jan. 26. That’s Lou Williams territory if you ask me.

Hollinger’s BOS-PHI review also made an interesting point in citing evidence that the early-season performance is a better indicator of playoff success than a team’s play in the late season. As shown below, recall that the 76ers were the team that demonstrated the the early season acumen that would have them favored over the slow-starting Celtics in this series.

22-game trimester	Celtics		76ers
	period	cumulative	period	cumulative
1st	10-12	10-12	16-6	16-6
2nd	11-12	23-21	13-9	25-19
3rd	16-6	39-27	12-10	35-31

So the Celtics are where they are supposed to be right now and they are going to need a dominant Kevin Garnett, the same guy that was a monstrous plus 51.5 per 48 min during the Hawks series and who continued with more dominating games in Games 1 through 3 against the Sixers, but then faded to being no more than a mere role player in Game 4.

One thing to look for as a litmus test for tomorrow’s game is the Celtics assist and turnover totals. Donnie Marshall of CSNNE had mentioned that when the Celtics have 25 or more assists and less than 13 turnovers they have a high rate of success. Looking at the information – definitely the assists seem to be a good predictor . . .

The Celtics only had 23 assists and a whopping 16 turnovers in Game 4, so this rule indeed rings true in these playoffs. But I say give Ray a rest when the 4th quarter rolls around, and rely on their healthy guys and the tenacious perimeter defense as KG locks down the paint with friend Ryan Hollins and Brandon Bass. And Doc, don’t forget to cash in on that E’Twaun Moore moment either.

The Celtics are the better team. I believe that down to my bones. But the saying goes, you are what your record says you are and right now we’re all even with the Sixers in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

This team consistently manages to be inconsistent and it is maddening. We know they can do so much more because we see it so often. In the very last game the Celtics led from wire to wire and looked dominant throughout. Even in the first quarter of game one they looked fantastic but of course they couldn’t keep it up.

Celtics’ arrogance proves to be a disadvantage – The Boston Globe

PHILADELPHIA – Would you have expected the Celtics to take any other route? The prosperity was just too much to take with an 18-point lead in the third quarter of Game 4 against the 76ers. The Celtics were playing too well, almost to the point where Celtics faithful expected a dramatic dropoff.

Their fears came to fruition as the Celtics played perhaps one of their worst halves in three months, dusted by the suddenly energetic 76ers, 61-37, in the final two quarters. A 15-point halftime lead was wasted by early in the fourth quarter and the Celtics could do nothing to stop a young and confident team that was energized by a crowd that suddenly believed.

When the Celtics have their backs against the wall, they look like world beaters and potential World Champs. When they have any advantage or momentum or edge, more often than not, they give all that back and let the other team gain enough footing to make things interesting and/or steal a game.

For the life of me I can’t fathom why, because it isn’t as if you can look at guys like Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett and question their mental toughness. They’ve got all the experience and battle tested veterans you could possibly want. They’ve got an excellent head coach and coaching staff and the core of this team has been through many wars together before.

The motivation is there too. Each and every one of these guys needs the extra rest that would come with putting away an 8 seed the way you should. Just because we have the better team doesn’t mean that you can take the other team for granted. This whole series is like an extended first round and it is killing the Celtics and their fans.

Frankly, if and when the Celtics advance I don’t know if I should be relieved or worried. Will they crumble when they face a team that is legitimately very good, or will they step up to the challenge on a more consistent basis and put in quality performances in each game? I just don’t know.

This is a very, very good team and they could be great. They just need to stop playing so very, very average.

The Boston Celtics will take Saturday off from practice, but if you need your Rajon Rondo fix, you can check out Red Bull’s King of the Rock. From Red Bull:
Amidst the crumbling walls and the eerily lit cell house of one of the most notorious locations on earth, CBS will air Red Bull King of the Rock on Saturday, May 19 at 2 pm ET. Hosted by All-Star Guard Rajon Rondo, 64 players from around the world make their way onto the same yard that housed inmates more than 50 years ago.