Brian Robb links Cs to Justin Holiday in latest Boston Celtics Mailbag

After last night’s disastrous meltdown at Madison Square Garden–where the Boston Celtics ceded a 25-point lead at its highest point to ultimately succumb to the New York Knicks–Brad Stevens must know that fans expect him to get busy.

Immediately.

With the Knicks missing their top two point guards and starting prototypical shooting guard Alec Burks at the position, the Cs somehow allowed themselves to be outscored by 19 points in the second half and lived up to their season-long reputation of second-half ineptness to watch R.J. Barrett hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The loss pushed the Celtics out of the playoff picture. 10 teams now sit ahead of Boston in the standings.

Before this loss, but after Monday’s near loss to the Orlando Magic, MassLive’s Brian Robb answered questions from readers about what moves could be made to change this middling, struggling roster.

While readers asked about Josh Hart–who the New Orleans Pelicans may require a trade chip like Marcus Smart or Josh Richardson for in order to get a deal done–and Magic forward Terrence Ross, Robb offered Justin Holiday as a cheap alternative to both:

"I think it’s fair to look at some of the underachieving teams around the league for shooting options (Atlanta, Indiana, San Antonio, Portland). There’s a host of offensive-minded talent with some added depth in those groups and C’s might be able to pick someone up on the cheap (Justin Holiday?) without giving too much up in those scenarios."

Whether or not the Cs land Holiday specifically isn’t the most important detail here. Holiday isn’t going to single-handedly shift the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. If he could, the Indiana Pacers wouldn’t be one of the few teams in a worse spot than Boston in the standings.

But whether it’s Holiday, Bryn Forbes, or Matt Thomas, any shooter will do. Only six teams are shooting the long-ball at a worse conversion rate.

The ball is in Brad’s court. Make a move, or get left behind. Not that making a move wouldn’t result in the same outcome, but Boston Celtics fans are growing restless.