"There has been a steady stream of excuses, including injuries, a lack of practice time, an abbreviated training camp and the condensed schedule. More recently, general manager Danny Ainge put his players on notice that anyone could be traded. And after Friday's woeful 79-71 home loss to the mediocre Phoenix Suns, coach Doc Rivers took the blame.

The one thing the Celtics haven't done during this miserable 5-9 start is accept that, even with three future Hall of Famers and an All-Star point guard, they just might not be capable of solving their offensive ineptitude.

"There's no give up," guard Ray Allen said. "Tomorrow you go back in the gym and individually all of us need to figure out how we can prepare ourselves better to be ready, because if we have to shoot 80-90 percent to win games, then that's what we have to focus on.""