Many Celtics’ fans on the East coast had to stay up late to watch this one but unfortunately for them, they were left disappointed with tonight’s result.

The Celtics lost yet another game on the road, this time to the Portland Trailblazers by a score of 92-86. The Celtics are now 9-18 away from the Garden this season.

Portland was riding a seven-game losing streak before snapping it with tonight’s win. Wesley Matthews led all scorers with 24 points, including a dagger 3-pointer, with 53 seconds left, to put his team up six.

Paul Pierce had a chance to tie the game late on a 3-pointer, but fell short, promptly leading to Matthews’ 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.

Boston now falls to 1-3 on their West coast road trip, with still one game left to play. Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points, while Kevin Garnett had 20 points and tacked on another nine rebounds.

The biggest problem for the Celtics came with their inability to simply hit shots. Boston shot just 42.4 percent from the floor, including a dreadful 2-13 from behind the arc, resulting in only 86 points scored.

In classic fashion, Boston was also outrebounded by 11. Rebounding has proven to be a concern all year and it cost the Celtics once again. Only Pierce and Garnett had more than five rebounds for Boston. Portland had five different players reach that same mark, led by J.J Hickson’s 11 rebounds.

Jordan Crawford, the newest Celtic addition, was held scoreless, missing all four of hit shot attempts. This is a drastic let down from his impressive 10-point debut on Friday night against Phoenix.

The Celtics now sit at 29-27, seventh in the Eastern Conference. The lost cost Boston an opportunity to move closer in playoff seeding, as both the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls dropped games.

The Celtics will have another chance to conquer their road demons tomorrow night in Utah. The Jazz are 21-6 at home this year though, so Boston could be looking at losing four of their five games this road trip.

Jan 12, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (1) warms up prior to a game against the Phoenix Suns at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been four and a half seasons since the 2008 NBA Draft was conducted, and it seems like a good time to re-visit the selections and determine how the Draft would go if it were re-conducted today.

There’s no change in the number one selection, regardless of major injury, but the rest of the top-10 shake out intriguingly, as a number of players leaped a third of a round in value, including two big men who are being paid handsomely by their respective clubs.

1) Derrick Rose (1)

Derrick Rose is the only one in this class to win an MVP award, though at least two others in this class have the talent to do so.  Rose led the Bulls to the best record in the Eastern Conference in consecutive seasons, and they had the best record in the entire NBA in 2010-11.

He’s a franchise talent, and though he is coming off of ACL surgery, many expect Rose to return to be as brilliant as he was pre-injury, if not more so.  Rose is a hard worker and has recently been dunking in practice, which is a good sign we’ll see the real Rose after the All-Star break.

2) Kevin Love (5)

Kevin Love has become the league’s best power forward.  He posts 20/20 games with regularity, and up until this season had been an accurate three-point marksman (even winning the three point contest over the All-Star weekend festivities).

Love is going to go down in the conversation with Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Moses Malone and the likes, for the best power forward of All-Time, when it is said and done.

Jan 11, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a 3-point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. The Thunder defeated the Lakers 116-101. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

3) Russell Westbrook (4)

Russell Westbrook is the third franchise talent of this draft class.  Though he plays with the league’s best scorer Kevin Durant, Westbrook is not shy about making himself the primary option when games call for it.  He still averages 8.5 assists per game, proving that the selfish player labels are not so accurate, after all.

Westbrook is essentially a really good shooting guard in a point guard’s body, but at 6’3″ with a strong broad frame, Westbrook is able to post up of a lot of opposing point guard and take advantage of his physicality.  He should prove to be one of the best point guards in the league for the next decade.

4) Brook Lopez (10)

Brook Lopez is a dynamic scorer, but not much of a true center.  He doesn’t rebound the ball well enough, deferring to Kris Humphries to do most of the dirty work inside.

He’s returned more to the form he showed in his first seasons in the league now, though, and the Brooklyn Nets feature Lopez prominently in their well-rounded starting five.  Lopez was taken No. 10 overall, but after receiving a max contract, he’s shown he is nearly a franchise talent.  Just not quite.

5) Nicolas Batum (25)

Nicolas Batum is quickly becoming one of the league’s best swingmen.  Batum is a premier defender and is scoring well this season, too (a career high 16.6 points per game).  Batum is a career 37 percent three point shooter and helped France in the 2012 Olympics.

Will Batum enter the elite class of small forwards?  It’s possible.  He’s improved every season in his five-year NBA career and is seeing 38.7 minutes a night this year.  The Portland Trail Blazers have been a surprisingly good 20-16 behind the strong play of rookie Damian Lillard and All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.  The future is bright in Portland and Batum is a big part of what they are building around.

6) Danilo Gallinari (6)

“The Rooster” has to be one of the more ridiculous nicknames in professional sports, but there is nothing ridiculous about Danilo Gallinari’s sweet jumper.  He hasn’t been hitting it at a high clip this year (just 40 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three), but over his career he has proven to be an effective scorer (just not the most efficient).

Gallo (much better nickname) has the potential to be a big scorer on a high scoring team, but would need to hit a much better percentage from the floor to move up much higher than the No. 6 overall selection in this draft, which incoincidentally was where he was selected in 2008.

January 6, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee (34) dunks in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

7) JaVale McGee (18)

JaVale McGee lost his starting spot in Denver, but it stems primarily from the fact his asthmatic condition limits the amount of minutes he can play.  But when he does play, he’s been very good, and a number of Nuggets fans are calling for McGee to start once again.

McGee is extremely coordinated and put time in with the “Hoops Whisperer” Hakeem Olajuwon this summer.  It’s seemingly paid dividends, as his post repertoire looks much improved.  He already had the coordination and athleticism, but with some more big man coaching he could be an elite center.

8) Roy Hibbert (17)

Roy Hibbert is another player in this draft who received a max-contract due to position scarcity.  With all due respect to Hibbert (and to a lesser extent Lopez), I don’t feel he could have started back in the center rich talent pool of the 90s.  Hibbert is immobile, soft and doesn’t have particularly great timing, which results in a lot of reach-in fouls.

He’s still the third best center in this draft class, and he’s better than the No. 17 overall at which he was picked, but the Pacers are going to live to regret that max-contract, and likely already are with Ian Mahinmi playing so well off the bench.

9) Eric Gordon (7)

If I were re-ordering this draft two seasons ago, Eric Gordon would have been No. 4.  He’s more talented than everyone in this draft outside of Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook (Yes, more talented than Love, but Love’s work ethic puts him over the top), and if not for the knee injuries he would unequivocally be a perennial All-Star.

Instead, he’s seldom been on the court.  Gordon drew vast interest at the end of last season, but the Hornets retained his services as a restricted free agent.

May 15, 2011; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard OJ Mayo (32) shoots a layup against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (left) and forward Serge Ibaka (second from right) during the first half of game seven of the second round of the 2011 NBA playoffs at the Oklahoma City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

10) O.J. Mayo (3)

O.J. Mayo looked as though he might contend for Rookie of the Year early in the 2008-09 season.  For a season and a half in Memphis, Mayo looked as though he could be a 20-plus point per game scorer.  In his rookie season, he averaged 18.5 points per game.

In time, the Grizzlies seemingly outgrew their need for Mayo, as other scorers stepped up and Tony Allen’s defensive skills were far more need-appropriate than Mayo’s shooting.  Moreover, his shooting had become less accurate as time wore on.

It turned out, all Mayo needed was a change in scenery.  This season in Dallas, Mayo has returned to the brilliance he displayed as a rookie—plus some.  He’s averaging over 18 points per game again, but shooting a career high 46 percent from the floor, including a blistering 42.6 percent from three-point range.

Nov 21, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) stretches on the net in overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks at American Airlines Arena. The Heat defeated the Bucks 113-106 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

When ranking teams 1-30 numerous factors are taken into account including strength of schedule, point differential, quality wins and overall record. Of course it is still a very young season and there will naturally be fluctuation in these rankings as the 2012-13 season progresses but here are how things currently stand in Week 5.

1. Miami Heat (12-3) – While the Heatles are the top ranked team here at HH, they aren’t without question marks. Dwyane Wade save last night’s 34 point effort in a win over the Brooklyn Nets has been largely inconsistent to start the year, the usual staunch Heat defense is currently ranked 20th in points allowed giving up 99.5 points a night and they seem to at times sleepwalk through the early part of games.

With all that being said, the Heat’s are currently on a six-game winning streak and offense is clicking at a scary rate, Lebron James is following up his 2011-12 MVP campaign with another great start, averaging 24.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists a game and Ray Allen is showing why he was the perfect signing for the defending champs hitting huge shots at the end of games including the go-ahead three he hit to save the Heat from what could have been a disastrous loss to the Duncan, Parker and Ginobili-less San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

2. San Antonio Spurs (14-4) – The Spurs had as much media scrutiny this past week as any team as a result of Greg Popovich’s decision to bench Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green for a TNT showdown with the Miami Heat and the power trip fine levied by David Stern as a result.

Can you blame Pop though?

The Spurs are a veteran team coming off playing four games in five nights and this is a tactic Pop has used for years to keep his guys fresh. Either way, the Spurs followed up a surprisingly competitive loss to the Heat with an impressive come from behind 99-95 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies last night.

Tim Duncan is looking as good as he has in years, the bench has gained much confidence after Thursday’s game and second year forward Kawhi Leonard is slated to come back from injury soon so the Spurs should keep rolling.

3. Memphis Grizzlies (12-3) – Though the Grizz blew a 15-point lead in their loss to San Antonio Saturday night Memphis has still raised many eyes around the league with some of their big time wins including victories over the Heat, Thunder, Knicks and Lakers.

Behind the top ranked defense in basketball and a greatly improved bench the Grizzlies have forced themselves into the discussion of serious title contenders. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have been dominant on the inside and Rudy Gay is playing some of the best all-around basketball of his career.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder (14-4) – The Thunder had a dominant week to say the least, going 4-0 winning their games by an average of 25 points. The defending Western Conference champs have not skipped a beat after the shocking James Harden trade as Kevin Martin has filled in admirably in the sixth man role averaging 16.1 points off the bench and they currently have the best point differential in the league at +9.8 points.

Kevin Durant is in the early discussion for MVP and Russell Westbrook has been dynamite as a playmaker dishing out almost 9 assists a game. Serge Ibaka’s improved game has given the Thunder a new dimension as well as OKC is scoring 105.1 points a game which leads the league.

5. New York Knicks (12-4) – The Knicks currently have the second best point differential in the league and Knicks faithful finally have a team they can honestly say they are proud of watching.

Carmelo Anthony seems to have matured greatly from his Olympic experience scoring at a proficient level while playing more inspired defensively. Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd have had a calming influence at the point guard position and J.R. Smith is playing great basketball off the bench.

How Amar’e Stoudemire fits into the teams plans is the looming question going forward but for now the Knicks have been playing excellent basketball. A game people should be very excited for next week is when the Knickerbockers fly down to South Beach for a Thursday night prime time matchup with the defending champs.

6. Brooklyn Nets (11-5)- The Nets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now despite having their five-game win streak snapped by the Miami Heat last night. They have largely been doing it on the defensive end which is a shocker of sorts and have allowed the second fewest points in the league to this point, only allowing opponents to score 91.1 points a game.

Brook Lopez has had a strong start to the season before recently getting injured, leading Brooklyn in scoring with 18.5 points a game while adding 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks and Andray Blatche has had a rebirth of sorts playing well off the bench.

7. Golden State Warriors (10-6) – I must say one of the reasons I am happy to have bought NBA League Pass is being able to watch the Golden State Warriors. Despite losing Andrew Bogut to injuries, the Warriors are one of the hottest teams in the NBA winning seven of their last nine games.

David Lee continues to produce without anyone knowing about it putting up a great all around stat line scoring 17.1 points, grabbing 10.8 rebounds and dishing 3.9 assists a game. Stephen Curry has played every game so far and Golden State has one of the leagues better benches. Klay Thompson has played much better of late after an early season slump and this team looks to be very dangerous in the Wild Wild West.

8. Los Angeles Clippers (10-6) – The other L.A. team has slowed down a bit after a quick start going 2-4 after starting off the season winning eight of their first 10 games. Jamal Crawford leads a balanced attack scoring 17.5 points a game and four other Clippers are averaging at least 10 points a contest with Eric Bledsoe barely behind at 9.9. CP3 is dishing out 9.3 assists a game and Chauncey Billups recently returned from injury but should provide a steady veteran presence.

9. Atlanta Hawks (9-5) - The Hawks haven’t exactly missed Joe Johnson very much and are one of the league’s early surprises with their strong start. A heartbreaking loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night snapped a six-game win streak but Atlanta’s sixth ranked defense and balanced offensive attack have kept them afloat as five players are averaging 10 points a game or better.

10. Los Angeles Lakers (8-8) – As disappointing as the Lake show has been to start the year they still have plenty of time to turn their season around. Despite the team being plagued by injuries, questionable effort at times and shoddy bench play, Kobe Bryant has been phenomenal in the early going, leading the league in scoring with 26.9 points a game while shooting 49.3 percent from the field. It is impossible to assess this team without Steve Nash in action but the Lakers best basketball is ahead of them.

11. Chicago Bulls (8-7) – The Bulls fourth ranked defense keeps them in every game and Joakim Noah is playing at an All-Star level averaging a near double-double of 13.3 points and 9.9 rebounds while adding 4.3 assists and better than 2 blocks a game. Chicago has only allowed 86 points a game in winning three of their last four.

12. Boston Celtics (9-8) - The Celtics have had an up and down start to the season and Wednesday’s senseless altercation with Kris Humphries led to Rajon Rondo’s two-game suspension. Paul Pierce’s timeless game is keeping the C’s competitive and Rondo will return to action on Wednesday against the Minnesota T’Wolves. A home and home with rival Philadelphia this coming weekend will be interesting to watch.

13. Philadelphia 76ers (10-7) - The youth movement is alive and well in Philly with Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner all keeping the Sixers competitive in the highly competitive Atlantic Division despite Andrew Bynum being unable to suit up because of bowling accidents. Jason Richardson has provided the Sixers with a needed outside threat hitting 42.9 percent of his shots from downtown.

14. Houston Rockets (8-8) – The Rockets have won three of their past four games and their third ranked scoring offense is a big reason why. While the Rockets can’t stop anybody these days, James Harden is the fifth leading scorer and Chandler Parsons is enjoying a nice breakout season under the radar and filling up the stat sheet, averaging 15.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists a contest.

15. Utah Jazz (9-9) – The Utah Jazz are a tale of two different teams. In the friendly confines of their home in Salt Lake City they are undefeated winning all six of their games. However away from home they are 3-9. Luckily for the Jazz five of their next seven games are home. Seven Jazz players average between 9.4 and 16.7 points a game making the Jazz a squad that can hurt you in many ways.

16. Denver Nuggets (8-9) – Not a good week for the Nuggets by any means, losing all three of their games this week on the road. Tough losses to the Jazz and Warriors followed by a three point barrage at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson have struggled greatly to start the season and need to step up in order for the Nuggets to keep up in the West.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (8-7) – The Bucks are currently tied with the Bulls for the Central Division lead which looks like it could be an open race all season long. Ersan Ilyasova’s early season struggles continue to plague Milwaukee though he had a solid performance in yesterday’s win over the Celtics, scoring 15 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists.

18. Indiana Pacers (8-9) – Much like the Denver Nuggets, the Pacers are a young team struggling. While savvy veteran David West has looked great early on, up and coming players Paul George and Roy Hibbert have not been able to build on the momentum from last year. Indiana is ranked 29th in scoring averaging 90.9 points a game so the offense must improve.

19. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-8) - The T’Wolves received some encouraging news when Ricky Rubio was cleared to practice fully for the first time today. Kevin Love is rounding into form averaging 21.7 points and 15.3 rebounds a game and I expect this beat up team to finally get some good fortune coming their way soon.

20. Dallas Mavericks (8-9) – After a strong start out of the gate winning four of their first five games, the Mavs have regressed and gone 4-8 in their last 12 games. O.J. Mayo has been a revelation offensively averaging 20.2 points a game and Dirk Nowitzki should be coming back in the next couple weeks which should help matters in Dallas.

21. Portland Trail Blazers (7-10) - A rough week for the Blazers, losing back to back games to the lowly Detroit Pistons and previously winless Washington Wizards before winning a thriller in overtime last night in Cleveland. Damian Lillard has had the typical rookie growing pains of late but is still the early favorite for Rookie of the Year while Wes Matthews and Nic Batum continue to play solid basketball for Portland.

22. Charlotte Bobcats (7-8) – The Bobcats were down 54 points in their embarrassing loss Monday night to the Thunder and are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. I guess it’s not all bad in the Queen City though since Charlotte has already matched their win total from last year. Mike Dunlap has done a commendable job as first year coach of this young team.

23. Phoenix Suns (7-11) – I must say the Suns have performed above expectations despite losing four of their last five including a 40 point beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. A strong bench has kept Phoenix competitive for the most part and Jermaine O’Neal is looking as healthy as he has in years, hopefully he can keep it up.

24. Orlando Magic (5-10) – I guess that 2-0 start was an abberation after all and there is no Ewing Theory here with this Orlando Magic team. J.J Redick has played quite well for the Magic and is a candidate to be traded to a contender as his outside shooting could certainly help many squads.

25. Detroit Pistons (5-13) – After starting the season 0-8, the Pistons have played much better basketball of late going 5-5 in their last 10 games. Greg Monroe is looking more and more like a franchise cornerstone, leading the team in points (16.1), rebounds (9.7) and steals (1.7) while doing a nice job creating for teammates with 3.4 assists a night.

26. Toronto Raptors (4-13) – The Raptors have been a mild disappointment to start the season. Kyle Lowry has been plagued by injuries after a hot start and Dwane Casey’s guys have reverted to their typical struggling defensive ways. The Raptors are currently allowing 101.2 points a night which is the fifth most points in the league. Jonas Valanciunas has certainly had his moments as a rookie and should post even better numbers provided he stays out of foul trouble.

27. New Orleans Hornets (4-11) – It’s a shame we haven’t seen what this Hornets team could do when they are healthy. Rookie cornerstone Anthony Davis has only played in 6 games and Eric Gordon hasn’t played at all. Greivis Vasquez has turned into a quality point guard though, he is tied for fifth in assists with Russell Westbrook with 8.7 a game.

28. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-13) – Kyrie Irving’s fractured finger has tempered expectations for the Cavs as he was playing great prior to his injury. Anderson Varejao is the consummate professional and could conceivably be an Eastern Conference All-Star this year, he leads the league in rebounding averaging 15.3 a contest and has scored 15.1 points a game as well. Dion Waiters must improve his shot selection as he is shooting a brutal 36.3 percent from the field.

29. Sacramento Kings (4-12) – The Kings are a mess, they are the most selfish team in basketball ranking last as a team in assists with only 18.4 a game. Demarcus Cousins appears to have regressed as well, shooting an awful 41.7 percent from the field for a big man and has already let his temper get the best of him with his post-game confrontation with Spurs announcer Sean Elliott a few weeks ago.

30. Washington Wizards (1-13) – Bradley Beal guarantees playoffs? Let’s be real fellas you JUST got your first win.