Healthy roster helping Celtics cruise

It seems as if we talk about the Celtics making history on a weekly basis – another week, another record. Ho-hum.With Monday’s victory over the Utah Jazz, the Celtics have now won 15 straight. That is fourth-best in team history, and in addition, they are now tied with three other teams for the best start in NBA history. With a win tonight against the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics would then hold sole possession of that record as well.Despite his team’s torrid start to the season, coach Doc Rivers feels that the Celtics haven’t even hit their stride.”All season, we haven’t played great in long stretches, and when we’ve played poorly, we’ve been able to figure out a way of winning games,” Rivers said. “We’ve had great quarters and we’ve had great halves. It’s a good sign in a lot of ways, because to me we have not played a stretch where as a coach I would say, ‘We’ve hit our stride.'”At 23-2, the team is on pace to finish an ostentatious 75-7.Lending a helping hand to the Celtics’ success has been their ability to stay healthy. Considering that the team’s three stars are all over 30, and one (Ray Allen) was coming off double ankle surgery, the Big Three have been surprisingly resilient. Most resilient of all has been Celtics captain Paul Pierce, who has a track record of playing through tremendous pain.In the closing moments of Monday’s victory, while fighting for a rebound, Pierce collapsed to the floor while holding his knee. The once-celebratory Garden crowd turned eerily silent, as 18,000 fans held their breath. Following the game, Pierce reassured the media.”It’s a little tender,” Pierce said. “The knee kind of buckled. I should be all right. I just landed on the knee, and it just went straight back, and I was able to back up a little bit to kind of take the pressure off it. It didn’t go back too far.”For the Celtics, watching their captain collapse to the floor for the second time in the last six months serves as a constant reminder of just how fragile their hoped-for championship repeat can be.If one of the Celtics does go down with an injury, there is a silver lining of sorts. Currently, there are plenty of legitimate NBA players, and even some former All-Stars, looking for work. Leading the pack is former defensive player of the year, and multiple time all-star, Dikembe Mutumbo.Recently, Mutombo told friends that he would like to play for the Celtics, saying, “You’ll see me in the next two weeks; I will be somewhere. I really need to go back to playing. I’ve just got to make sure that I go to a place where I can be happy. There are about four to five teams that I have been looking at; it’s up to me to make my decision.”Also available (or who will soon be) are Stephon Marbury and old Celtics friend Antoine Walker.