As you’ll recall from my overrated column several weeks back, I said that I thought that one or two players from the Celtics combination of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen was going to take a hit to their stats. I predicted that Ray Allen was the least likely to be taken out of his game (spotting up for three point shots) by being on a team with two other superstars.

It’s still early too early to tell how the entire season is going to shake out, but so far the player that has really taken the hit fantasy-wise is the bench.

Check out the numbers…

Kevin Garnett - 21.6 points, 13.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.6 steals, 1.4 blocks, 56.6% FG, 83.3% FT
His points are down slightly, his rebounds are up, and his FG% is much improved over last year. His other stats have so far remained about the same.

Paul Pierce - 22.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.4 blocks, 1.4 3PT, 48.5% FG, 80.4% FT
His points are off 3 per game from last year, and 5 per game off the year before that. His rebounds have also dropped, one per game from last year, 2 from the year before that. His FG% has improved, a trend among the Celtics. Most other stats have not changed much from their average over the last two years.

Ray Allen - 20.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.1 blocks, 2.8 3PT, 47.3% FG, 94.9% FT
His points are down by 6 points per game over last year. But his percentages are up across the board. His turnovers so far are down from the previous two years — a good trend for fantasy owners.

I hear sports analysts commenting all the time that the Boston Celtics have the worst 4-12 of any team in the league. Can we really tell with the bulk of the touches and minutes going to the big three? Let’s take a look at the next best players (stat-wise) on the Boston Celtics.

The other two starters and the sixth man, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Eddie House, are not doing much worse than what they did before (since none of them was really stellar anyway)

Rajon Rondo - 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 53.1% FG, 46.7% FT
Kendrick Perkins - 6.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 2.0 blocks, 61.1% FG, 55.0% FT
Eddie House - 8.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.7 3PT, 45.7% FG, 87.5% FT

That really isn’t too bad considering the fact that Garnett, Allen, and Pierce are hogging all of the stats for themselves. Rondo, Perkins, and House can make Fantasy teams in a deep league, quite the accomplishment considering the kind of numbers that the big three are pulling down. It should also be of note that there were also FG% gains among these players, probably because they have to be left unguarded if ever the other teams choose to double team.

It’s hard to say if trends will remain the same, but so far the predictable hits to points (down about 10 per game for the combination of Garnett/Pierce/Allen) might very well be outweighed by their ability to take higher percentage shots and thus improving their FG%. We’ll have to keep watching, but my correct guess on their points and other stats taking hits might not necessarily mean that they were picked too much higher than they should have been. Their percentage gains might very well have made up for it in Fantasy leagues where percentages matter, but we’ll still have to wait and see.