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Celtics' Ainge On Target

BOSTON (CBS) - It appears the Celtics are back on track.

It took a game to get over the shock of saying goodbye to Kendrick Perkins (funny, not too many tears seem to be shed over Nate Robinson's departure) much like it took the Patriots a game to get over the jaw-dropping jettison of defensive back Lawyer Milloy to Buffalo.

The Patriots were croaked in that first game of the season following the Milloy trade, by the Bills no less, but we all know things turned out okay with a win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 38.

Actually, sending Perkins elsewhere should not have been such a shock. The center had already gone on record as saying he was going to test Free Agency following this season, the last of his contract.

Read: Troy Murphy Chooses Celtics

Danny Ainge, the Celtics President of Basketball Operations, didn't want Perkins to walk without compensation, hence the trade with Oklahoma City for center Nenad Krstic and forward Jeff Green. For Green, he returns to the team that drafted him originally but sent him to Seattle as part of the Ray Allen trade.

Gallery: Danny Ainge's Trades

The task now falls to head coach Doc Rivers to add Green and Krstic into the mix. If the Celtics keep winning while that happens and the O'Neals get healthy (you almost forgot about Shaq and Jermaine, didn't you?) it will still be 'all about 18'.

Then the Celtics can really show their affection for Perkins by voting him a full playoff share.

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