BOSTON -- Michael Finley came here because he wanted a shot at another championship ring? So far, he has witnessed three games: one outright abomination, one close defeat and one shoulda-been-a-loss. He has to be thinking, of all the gym joints in all the world, I walked into this one?

Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty ImagesMemphis' Rudy Gay moves past Paul Pierce, who has been slowed by several injuries this season.

In a way, though, the 37-year-old Finley personifies his new team. He was deemed to be done by the San Antonio Spurs, a team that, by the way, is having its own troubles in the West. So San Antonio did the dignified Finley right and allowed him to leave and sign with, you know, a team with a real shot.

"We're just happy he didn't go to Dallas," said the Spurs' coach, Gregg Popovich.

Finley picked Boston. And right now, he has to be thinking to himself, well, OK, it still beats New Jersey.

But if he believes he's any closer to a ring, a game like Wednesday night has got to have him rethinking his exit strategy from San Antonio. The Celtics were embarrassed by a young, athletic, better-than-you-think Memphis team. A confluence of events -- young vs. old, back-to-back situation vs. night off, energy vs. inertia, optimism vs. helplessness -- led to a 111-91 annihilation at TD Garden. It matched the team's most lopsided loss of the season (both of which, by the way, have come at home).