NBA Power Rankings 2012: Boston Celtics Drop Seven Spots

It's not the defense, it's the offense.

The Boston Celtics have somehow managed to lose their last two outings despite allowing less than 40 percent field goal shooting in both games. The Celtics have reached 100 points just four times all season, and have failed to crack the century mark in every game since Feb. 1.

And the Celtics' scoring woes have caused them to plummet in SB Nation's latest NBA power rankings. Tom Ziller dropped the Celtics seven spots to No. 17 in this week's rankings.

Is the drop deserved? Absolutely. In the past week, the Boston Celtics lost twice to the Detroit Pistons and once to the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls. Now losers of five out of six, the Celtics have struggled to develop a symbiotic relationship on the court: in games Rajon Rondo scores a lot the Big Three are generally quiet, and vice versa.

With Brandon Bass likely out of the lineup for a few more games, even more responsibility falls onto Rondo and the Big Three. It looks like the All-Star break can't come soon enough.

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NBA Power Rankings 2012: Boston Celtics Plummeting

It might be time to worry in Boston. The Celtics have lost four straight and have yet to defeat a single winning team. Their four wins have come against the NBA's worst team (the Washington Wizards, who the Celtics have beaten twice), and the two teams tied for the second-worst record (the New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons).

SB Nation's latest 2012 NBA Power Rankings reflect Boston's troublesome start, placing the Celtics at No. 24, just one spot ahead of the Toronto Raptors.

I'm not asking the Celtics to beat all of the Mavericks, Bulls and Pacers. Just one of them. That loss to Indiana was a brutal indicator that this team is toast. Boston has a -2.5 efficiency differential against a subpar strength of schedule. Yikes.

It's not necessarily time for Celtics fans to abandon any hope of making a postseason run, but a better start surely would have been appreciated.

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NBA Preseason Power Rankings 2011-12: Celtics Ranked No. 11

The NBA season is two days away, and that means it's time for the start of the weekly power rankings. Marc Stein of ESPN.com has released his preseason rankings, where he has the Boston Celtics ranked No. 11 overall at the start.