Indiana 95, Boston 79

So, yeah, that's the last time I refer to a future opponent as a sacrificial lamb.

[recap] [box score]

Nobody expected us to win them all, but the Celtics' performance in this one put the "ugh" in "ugly." I actually didn't think we played too badly defensively (save Danny Granger's fast start and a few drives by T.J. Ford) but we were just lethargic offensively. Ray Allen didn't look interested in playing. Paul Pierce didn't assert himself -- there were a couple times he ended up with Ford on him, and rather than take him into the post, he gave it up instead. Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins combined for ... two points. Eddie House finally hit his first three pointer of the year, but he missed all nine of the other shots he took, which makes him 3-for-18 on the season.

Nights like this will happen, although hopefully not that often. But there a couple of things that concerned me that we will need to address. Both involve the bench.

-One thing Doc Rivers did a lot last year that I never understood was to play Ray Allen with the second-team. I didn't like it because it increased Ray's minutes, which we need to be careful of, and because he's the least capable of carrying the second team. He did it again against Cleveland to start off this season.

Tonight, he left the second unit to its own devices, and the results weren't good. I'm just not convinced that Tony Allen is mentally capable of being both the main scoring option and a primary ballhandler. He does one thing well, and that's get the ball on the wing, put his head down, and go to the basket. While I'm not sure Ray is the best option, either, I wouldn't mind seeing Pierce spend some time with that group, if only to see how it works out.

-I am convinced that Leon Powe can be an effective scorer with the ball in his hands, but he needs to understand who is guarding him. Powe is strong enough to score through many fours who are a couple of inches taller than. However, if he's playing center and is going against the opposing team's five, he's got to recognize that it doesn't matter how strong he is -- he's not creating enough space for himself to get a shot over a seven-footer. Powe tried to back down both Jeff Foster and Roy Hibbert tonight, and the results were predictable.

As I've said, I don't think we can go all season with Powe playing center and Glen Davis playing power forward on the second team, but that's the situation we're stuck with at the moment. When Powe is up against a seven-footer, he should step out after receiving the pass in the post and face the bucket.

Next game is Tuesday, against the Rockets. It's on NBATV, which means I don't get it and can't watch it because it's blacked out on League Pass Broadband. We're going to need to be a lot sharper if we want to avoid falling to 2-2.