Celtics keeps rolling, and so do the rumors

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That's it!

Blow 'em up!

Screw this team and start building for the future!

You heard this from a lot of Celtics fans (and Boston media personalities) in the wake of Rajon Rondo's ACL injury.

You it heard again on Friday after Jared Sullinger suffered a similar fate.

Throw in the towel! These guys are toast!

Screaming!!!

In the meantime, the Celtics have run off four straight winsall four without Rondo, essentially three without Sullingerto climb back over .500. And it's not just that they're winning, but how they're winning that's so impressive. The energy. The ball movement. The commitment to defense. The passion and chemistry. It's a welcome development after what they gave us over the first few months of the season.

Of course, we'd be singing a far different tune had they not salvaged yesterday's win against the Clippers. Had they blown that game, like they were so close to doing, we'd be right back on the negative horse. They'd be the same old apathetic Celtics, undeserving of any expectations. But for now, there's hope. There's reason to remain (relatively) optimistic about the post-RondoSullinger Era.

At the very least, it's worth pumping the breaks on the "blow it up" talk. Especially when it's clear that that's the last thing Danny Ainge wants to do.

But that won't stop the rumors. From now until the trade deadline, short of the Celtics breaking off a 20-game win streak, we'll continue to hear rumblings of numerous deals that might be in the worksregardless of how realistic those rumblings are. Why? Because that's the world we live in. No one cares about real. It's all about headlines and clicks.

I'm not breaking new ground here. But that's just the way it is.

For instance, take this latest rumor about a potential deal between the Clippers and Celtics . . .

"Los Angeles Clippers interested in deal for Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett, report says."

That's the ESPN headline, and when you click on the link, the story starts like this:

The Los Angeles Clippers are interested in acquiring Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics, the Sporting News reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources.While the Sporting News reported that officials from both teams talked about a deal before the Celtics beat the Clippers 106-104 on Sunday, sources told ESPN's Chris Broussard that no trade talks have taken place between the teams.
Look at that again.

It takes ESPN all of two sentences to render the headline meaningless. To blow the rumor out of the water. Honestly, if there haven't been any trade talks, then what's the story? That the Clippers wouldn't mind trading for Kevin Garnett? That's not news. It's an obvious and almost useless piece of information. Of course they want Garnett. Outside of the Spurs, any contender would jump at the chance for KG.

But now it's in the pipeline. Now everyone has to jump in and get their jollies. In this case, ESPN is saying: "OK, so someone else started this silly rumor, but we won't tell you that's silly until we can cash in on the sillyness."

By the way, I don't mean to single out ESPN here. Everyone does it. And everyone will continue to do it. It's a vicious cycle. No matter what happens next, the rumors will keep on coming. In turn, we'll be hit with round after round of stories like this refuting stories that were never stories in the first place.

And finally, our heads will collectively explode, bringing an official end to the human race as we know it. It's going to be a trip. And after it's all said and done, the Celtics still won't be any closer to trading Kevin Garnett to Clippers than they were yesterday or today. It will all be a big waste of time.

Unless the Celtics lose to Toronto on Wednesday.

In that case, FIRE SALE!!

Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine

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