The Celtics dominated the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, cruising to a 93-78 victory, and they did so despite only modest efforts from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. KG finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds but failed to record a steal or a block. Pierce, meanwhile, had just 13 points and four assists on the night. The sad thing is that this is hardly news anymore; it's just business as usual for the Celtics. For all of the chatter about Garnett's fantasy demise, many folks have overlooked the fact that KG isn't the only one in Boston who's underachieving.

For some reason, Pierce has escaped the ire of fantasy fans, but not for long. Not when he's averaging just 15.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.4 3-pointers while shooting just 37 percent from the floor over his past five games. Some may write this off as just a simple shooting slump, but that doesn't explain the plummeting peripheral numbers: his boards, assists and steals. Pierce's recent slump concerns me more than just a little bit, and I'll tell you why.

The Celtics do not need Paul Pierce to be Paul Pierce anymore. They need him to be a leader, but they do not need the stat filler of old. And unfortunately for us fantasy owners (but fortunately for the Celtics), Pierce has bought into the system. Boston is looking for a repeat, and key in their quest will be the development of players like Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. It's no accident that Pierce's slump has coincided with the emergence of Rondo and Perkins. The Celtics are blowing teams out, but instead of toying with opponents, they're building confidence in their so-called "role" players for the playoff run. It's a brilliant strategy, and it seems to be working.

Rondo is putting up Jason Kidd-like numbers with 11.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 11.4 assists and 2.2 blocks per game over his past five, including 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals Friday night. The kid is playing out of his mind right now, and it looks like the Celtics are going to give him every opportunity to prove just how good he can be. Make no mistake about it, Rondo will make or break the Celtics in the playoffs this season, especially now that James Posey is gone. So far he's been up to the challenge, and I don't see him slowing down much now that his confidence is sky-high.

This, of course, is great news for Rondo's fantasy owners, but terrible news for Pierce owners. "The Truth" should bounce back from his recent shooting slump, but I fear that he won't be the same player across the board that he was last season. He is still a big name, and his overall numbers still look pretty good, so you may be able to get a nice deal if you attempt to trade him now. But don't wait too long, because the rest of the fantasy community will soon catch on that he's taking a back seat for the good of the team.

Under the boards

It's time to start taking notice that Andray Blatche appears to be working his way into Ed Tapscott's regular rotation in Washington's frontcourt. Blatche, who blew up for 25 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in his first game under Tapscott, had another promising game with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals Friday night. More important, Blatche earned 28 minutes while JaVale McGee saw just eight and Etan Thomas received just 13. Blatche has a heck of a lot of upside, so be sure to give him a look. … With 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 3-pointers in a victory over the Pacers, Delonte West continues to produce while largely flying under the radar in fantasy leagues. West is owned in just 22 percent of ESPN.com leagues but has averaged a versatile 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.4 3-pointers over his past five games. … Contrary to various Internet rumors last week, Jared Jeffries did not start in his debut for the Knicks. Jeffries came off the bench for six points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes before leaving with a leg injury in the fourth quarter. It was the same fractured leg that caused him to miss the first month of the season, so we may not be seeing Jeffries for a while again. Even so, it appears that Jeffries will be a fantasy option only in deeper fantasy formats if he's coming off the bench. Al Harrington, meanwhile, has found his niche in New York. He dropped 27 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and drained 3 3-pointers on the night, and is now averaging 24.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 3-pointers over his past five games. I'd love to see more steals, but I'm not going to complain much. … It's nice to see Andrew Bogut getting back into the flow of things with a 10-point, 10-rebound, 1-block double-double. Bogut has been a bit of a disappointment this season, and his owners are frustrated, but he's still averaging 11.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and a block per game on the year. The blocks should come with time, so consider throwing out some buy-low offers if you need a big man. … There is no bigger fantasy tease in the league than Charlie Villanueva. After going off for 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and a 3-pointer Wednesday, Charlie scored just eight points with six rebounds in 19 minutes Friday night. I'm done with this guy until he starts showing some more consistency. … Eric Gordon got hot immediately following the Zach Randolph trade, but has since come back down to Earth. He scored just 7 points on 2-of-6 shooting despite seeing 39 minutes Friday night and is now averaging 11.8 points, 1.8 steals and 1.8 3-pointers per game over his past five. The production in steals and 3-pointers alone will make him valuable in fantasy leagues, but his consistency on the offensive end will be a struggle for most of the season. … Dwight Howard came through with another 20-20 night with 21 points, 23 rebounds and 6 blocks. In other news, the sun came up this morning. … I said it last week, and I'll say it again: Kudos to those of you who grabbed Russell Westbrook off the wire. Westbrook posted 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals Friday and is now averaging 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game over his past five. He shouldn't be available in any leagues as this point, but it's worth your while to check just in case.