It's pointless to overreact to the Celtics' demoralizing 108-102 loss the lowly Pistons at TD Garden Friday night.
The Celts had their built-in excuses thanks to Kemba Walker's night off (load management), along with the continued absence of Marcus Smart (calf). And when emerging scorer Semi Ojeleye left with a sore right knee, Brad Stevens' scoring options outside of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum took an even bigger hit.
But this much is clear: Injuries or no injuries, Danny Ainge's blueprint for success isn't exactly working out.
His two most significant acquisitions in the offseason -- Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson -- really haven't been able to pick up much of the slack at all.
Teague, a guard who on paper would be the one to offer as a replacement for Smart, has rarely been a difference-maker. This time around he managed eight points in 22 minutes. He has scored in double-figures just four times, having been pushed down the bench in favor of rookie Payton Pritchard.
(Pritchard's first start didn't go swimmingly, managing just two points on 1-for-5 shooting.)
Meanwhile at the center position, Daniel Theis has taken over, serving as the clearly more effective option than Thompson. Against the Pistons, Thompson managed just four points and two rebounds in 17 minutes.
You know who the Celtics could have really used Friday night? The guy who torched them for 30 points in 27 minutes, adding 12 rebounds, Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey.
Bey -- who made all seven of his three-point attempts -- was taken 19th overall by Detroit, which is five spots in back of where of Ainge plucked a player he believed could supply the Celtics' much-needed outside punch, Aaron Nesmith.
While it appeared Nesmith was on his way might be on his way to legitimate contributions a few weeks ago, he has fallen off the map of late. The rookie didn't see the floor Friday night after getting just two minutes the night before.
Not all is lost for Ainge and the Celtics. The rest of the Eastern Conference isn't exactly running away and hiding.
The C's stand at 13-12, sitting in the conference's No. 4 spot. Other than the first-place Sixers (18-8) you have a lot of teams trying to figure things out.
And Ainge still has his ace in the hole, the $28.5 million trade exception. And with rumors swirling about the availability of Atlanta's John Collins -- a guy who scored 33 points just two nights ago -- the image of what might be isn't all that unrealistic.
But if the Celtics' recent struggles have exhibited, things need to be fixed. Ainge has whiffed a few times, but there is still plenty of game to be played. He just better start making sure his contact rate starts seeing an uptick.
