As pieces fall into place, Ainge's vision becomes clear

What is becoming clear is that Ainge was able to gamble with this big shakeup because in Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, he has a foursome that may be unmatched throughout the league and the belief that with those four in place, the Celtics defense will remain strong.

“Our team has been one of the top defensive teams over the last three or four years and we have been all year this year,” Ainge said. “I don’t see why we would give up more points.” 

or all their success this season – and over the last three-plus years – the 2010-11 Celtics had three significant issues that needed to be addressed: their health, their bench and their offense.

Ainge addressed the first need by sending Marquis Daniels to Sacramento and Semih Erden and Luke Harangody to Cleveland. That opened up three roster spots that have now been filled by Troy Murphy, Sasha Pavlovic and (for now) Chris Johnson. While the O’Neals – Shaq and Jermaine – get closer to returning, the Celtics also have a healthy 7-footer in Krstic.
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“We’re deeper,” Ainge said. “We have a lot of experience on the bench. Our bench has struggled this year, mostly because of injuries. We never really have developed chemistry with our bench throughout the course of the year. Our core bench guys are in place.”

“When you watch our team play, our big guys get a lot of open shots,” Ainge said. “KG and Glen Davis get a lot of open shots. We really don’t have a 3-point shooter at any of our big positions and Troy can provide that.”

Add Krstic to that mix, who is far better offensively than Perkins, and the Celtics now have their ideal complimentary pieces for their big four.

“I said [to the team] you know, Krstic can shoot,” Rivers said. “I said it a good 50 times. He actually can make those shots. It was great when he made it [against Phoenix]. It just opened the floor wide open for us.”