After losing on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats by a final score of 114-106, the Boston Celtics fell to second place in the Eastern Conference.  In the contest, the Bobcats exploded in overtime to hand the defending NBA champions their second consecutive defeat. Overall, the Celtics have lost five of their last seven games.

Prior to this losing stretch, the Boston Celtics were on fire. They were 27-2 on the season and they had won 19 straight games. That all changed on Christmas when the Celtics lost 92-83 at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Some of Boston’s struggles could be attributed to fallout from the Lakers loss. That game was a highly emotional contest between the two teams that met in last season’s NBA Finals. Losing that game and then playing five of their next six games on the road had to be difficult on Boston’s emotional state.

However, there’s a chance that not all of the Celtics’ problems are due to a simple emotional issue. Boston’s Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are each getting up there in age. A chance exists that the trio is slowing down.

Another cause of their recent struggles could be the relatively thin bench. Last year, the Celtics had veterans such as James Posey, PJ Brown and Sam Cassell on their bench. But in the offseason, Posey signed with the New Orleans Hornets, Brown retired and Cassell assumed more of a coaching role.

Now, the Celtics rely on a group of young players around their Big Three. While youth an athleticism make for an exciting NBA contest, typically experience wins out when it comes to winning games. With that in mind, Boston has to hope that their young players grow up quickly.

Chances are that the Celtics will be fine and will once again be favored to win the NBA championship this season. But there are some cracks in the armor that are beginning to show themselves after Boston’s astonishingly fast start to the 2008-09 season.

Tags: basketball, boston celtics, celtics, charlotte bobcats, los angeles lakers, nba
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