Why a Celtics playoff stock watch?

Well, because there was nothing else to write about on Monday. There, I said it. The Heat are still playing, and the Celtics are doing nothing -- no practice, no shootaround, nothing -- until Wednesday, and I didn't want to waste 1,200 words on the calf of a man who is old enough to have co-starred in a movie with a pre-punchline Nick Nolte. 

So here we go. Who is up, down or about the same after four games ...

Stock Up:

Rajon Rondo: In the absurdly re-watchable "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals", Kevin McHale pointed out that both Larry and Magic could completely dominate a game in which they only scored 10 points. Absolutely true, and in the quarter-century or so since the two were NBA Alpha Dog No. 1 and No. 2 you can count on one hand the number of guys who McHale's words could accurately describe. I'll give you Dennis Rodman (he could put up a 2-26-2 line with game-changing defense), Scottie Pippen, Jason Kidd, LeBron James and Rondo. That's it. Rondo's line in Game 3 -- 15-11-20 -- will not be approached by a player not named Rajon Rondo in this postseason. He averaged 19 points, 7.3 rebounds and 12.0 assists in the sweep. Yep, he still can't shoot -- might be time to just come to grips with that -- but he was the best player in the NBA postseason last year and I'd put only Chris Paul ahead of him so far this year.

Ray Allen: Here's a bold statement. Ray Allen will not make 65 percent of his 3-pointers against the Heat. And that's why I get paid in Planet Mikey points and you don't. Allen followed the best shooting season of his career (49.1 from the floor, 44.4 on 3-pointers) with 57.4 from the floor, 65.4 on 3-pointers and 9-for-9 from the line in the four games. Already on the Mt. Rushmore of Greatest NBA Shooters, Allen is actually adding to his resume as all-timer at 35 years old, usually an age when shooting guards are either playing 12 minutes a game, staring blankly ahead as a fifth assistant coach on some team or firing out cliches to Linda Cohn as one of 6,200 analysts on ESPN News.

Jermaine O'Neal: This is based on Game 1 alone. The guy was the reason the Celtics won a game in the series, and that wasn't the expectation heading in, right? He wasn't much of a factor in the final three games, but wouldn't you sign for O'Neal's first-round averages -- 23 minutes, 61 percent from the floor, 5.5-4.0-1.0 with 2.5 blocks -- against the Heat?

Doc Rivers: Do we ever again need to hear that coaching doesn't matter in the NBA? 

Stock Neutral:

Paul Pierce: I understand books will be written and Spike Lee (who, at his current rate of shrinking, will be a dead ringer for Nelson de la Rosa by 2014) is trying to nab the film rights for Carmelo Anthony's Game 2 performance (lots and lots of warm and fuzzies for a 14-of-30 in a loss) but at the very worst Pierce was at least a wash against Carmelo Anthony for the series. Pierce clearly outplayed Anthony in Game 1 and Game 3 (38 points on 14-of-19 shooting, or 11 less shots than Anthony needed in Game 2), and was a push in Game 4. 

I think he's going to struggle in the Miami series. Pierce -- like all great scorers, I suppose -- is best when he knows he can get to his two or three scoring spots on the court without a lot of trouble. That's why Bird always killed Dominique Wilkins, for example. Larry loved that spot in the post where he could go right into his fallaway, and 'Nique didn't think to fight it. And Pierce isn't always able to do that against LeBron -- think of his troubles in last year's series against the Cavs. 

Kevin Garnett: Very happy that back spasms exist. Garnett averaged a quiet 15.5-11.3, I thought, until Game 4 he just didn't strike me as a huge factor in the series. But was he terrific in the closer -- 26-10 in 33 minutes -- and enters the second round of the playoffs as near 100 percent as we'll ever see from him, which the Celtics would have happily traded home-court advantage for at the beginning of the season.

Stock Down:

The Perkins Trade: Why didn't Doc tell us after Game 4 that this starting lineup has never lost a playoff series? Look, the winners and losers in this deal won't truly be revealed for years, but right now it doesn't look great for Danny Ainge. I'm on record as liking the trade, but that was when  I was under the impression that Nenad Krstic was a serviceable NBA center and Jeff Green was good enough that I could watch him play a postseason series and leave it convinced that he was a better player than Bill Walker.   

The Bench: I don't put much stock (can't go 1,000 words without using the word stock in a stock watch column? Pathetic.) in plus-minus in the NBA -- just too many variables going on -- but the Celtics bench was a -56 in Game 3, a game the Celtics won by 17 points. Glen Davis played well in Game 4 and Jeff Green was OK in Game 3, but that was it if you're looking for any positives from the reserves. I'm not saying that the Celtics lose to the Heat without major contributions from the bench, but they can't keep turing six-point leads into four-point deficits in when they are on the floor as a group for five-minute stretches.