“No matter if we’re bored or not, shoot, you still gotta go out and play the game the right way and get wins,” Rasheed Wallace said.

Given that everything has been a struggle this season, Perkins was asked before Saturday’s game if the team lacked the focus and determination that propelled it to banner No. 17.

“It’s different [the 2007-08 season], guys are really anxious to get to the playoffs,” Perkins said. “You’ve got veteran guys — Rasheed, [Kevin Garnett] — you can tell the regular season, it really don’t excite them. Even with Paul [Pierce] and Ray [Allen], but you still gotta go out there and compete, it’s not an excuse for losing. Guys just really want to get to crunch time.”

via ‘Bored’ Boston Celtics lacked urgency against New Jersey Nets – ESPN Boston.

Look. I get it. The regular season “doesn’t matter.” Nothing matters bu “crunch time.” Cliche after cliche after cliche.

There have been tons of teams who have coasted through the regular season and then ‘turned it on’ when April came around, and had massive success. But there have also been tons of teams who coasted through the regular season and found themselves at home in late May because they didn’t think they needed to exert themselves to get into playoff shape.

There an awful lot of denial going on in Boston right now about what’s wrong, and none of it is “We really need to run faster, jump higher, and work for a better shot.” It’s a lot of sloughing off of concerns and avoiding the crux of the issues.

Being bored? You’re competing for a championship. Which only comes along with the right combination of talent, skill, performance, determination, and luck. And you’re playing patty cake with the fates? Are you nuts?

I get that Perkins is trying to say “No, for reals, we should start trying now” but it’s just that the whole thing is like “Well, yeah, we’re bored, but we should totally start trying here in a minute” versus “Wake up, fools!” There’s got to be some level of taking responsibility in play.

I do have a question. If the regular season doesn’t matter, then why is it played? Should we just take the teams we think are the best and slot them into the games? Wait, why even pay attention to the playoffs? Why don’t we just take the two teams we arbitrarily think are the best, despite significant evidence to the contrary, and put them in the Finals?

A: Because that’s the BCS.

It’s high time the Celtics realize that the only way to get where you want to go is by giving a damn night in and night out. Because if they think their tired bodies won’t get worn out from a seven game series against tougher opponents before starting the big 3 gauntlet, they’re mistaken. They need the rest. And to rest they need the work.

(HT: CelticsBlog)