The Warriors and Celtics had trade talks involving Rajon Rondo for Stephen Curry in December, but it was Golden State that decided not to do the deal.

Boston has looked for several trades involving Rondo since the end of the lockout and continue to shop him aggressively, according to sources.

Halfway through the season, the Celtics are 15-17, good for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

“There’s not a lot of consistency,” Rajon Rondo said during yesterday’s All-Star media session. “That’s why our record is what it is. We may play well for two or three quarters and then go in a lull where we don’t score the ball, not a lot of ball movement, getting outrebounded, not taking care of the glass. I think we’ve lost maybe over half of our games by just not being disciplined, just simple mistakes in the fourth quarter.

“I know I have a couple of those mistakes, just leaving guys in the corner for 3-point shots, double-teaming when it’s not needed, just little mistakes like that where we’re not being disciplined and we’re beating ourselves.

“I think for us basically we need to stay disciplined. We need to rebound the ball better and take care of the ball and just keep sharing the ball offensively. I think those three things are pretty simple, but we haven’t found a way to do it consistently.”

Paul Pierce echoed similar themes as he listed his team’s deficiencies.

“It’s little things that are really killing us,” Pierce said. “But I’m attributing a lot of that to the lack of practice time. But also it’s about the discipline and understanding what we’re trying to do. You know, when we come out of timeouts we need to have guys listening and understanding what (coach) Doc(Rivers) is telling us and go out and execute.

“That’s the most frustrating part about it. Hopefully we have a better focus going into the next half of the season to where we’re concentrating on all the little things, to where we don’t have execution mishaps, especially after the timeouts.”

Rasheed Wallace will reportedly come out of retirement and sign with the Lakers.

Wallace hasn't played since the 2009-10 season, but reportedly is in better shape than he has been "in years."

"His days as a starter in this league are gone," said one front office executive. "I think he knows that, and so do the Lakers. But think about it. Of the big men that are available, is there one that's really better? And if he's gotten himself in shape, adding him becomes a huge get for them."

Joe Johnson underwent an MRI in Atlanta on Tuesday, and he was diagnosed with left knee tendinitis. As previously announced, he’ll miss the Hawks’ next two games.

In addition, Johnson won’t participate in this weekend’s All-Star game and activities in Orlando. He will be re-evaluated prior to Atlanta’s first game after the All-Star break

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe is reporting that Rajon Rondo will replace Johnson on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

The Celtics went through a longer than expected practice Saturday, with Doc Rivers placing special emphasis on the team’s inability to contain dribble penetration.

“We worked on a lot of defensive stuff because the dribble penetration is just crushing us,” Rivers said. “We showed film of the last three games, and you don’t have to talk a lot. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Guys have the ball square and then the guy’s driving. You see the big (the forwards or center) running over to help and either it’s a foul, it’s a layup or it’s an offensive rebound.

“I don’t think that’s that hard to figure out. We just have to do a better job on it. That should never happen, especially on some of the plays when it’s happening. There’s no reason for you to get beat off the dribble.

“And then,” Rivers added, “our bigs have to do a better job of talking, because a lot of times, in the guards’ defense, they’re thinking that there’s a pick and roll coming — there’s nothing, but they don’t know. They’re guarding the ball.”

Danny Ainge acknowledged that the Celtics have been very inconsistent this season.

"Our offense has been under par," Ainge said. "We are turning the ball over too much and we're making a pretty good percentage of our shots, but the turnovers have really hurt is this year, again. We've shown signs of playing very good basketball against very good teams periodically, but not consistently. Our team, as it is right now, is not a team that we feel like is a contending team the way we're playing. And they have to step it up, and this road trip will be a very good test for us."

Ainge said that he’s explored both long-term and short-term benefit trade scenarios.

"I'm exploring opportunities for both, always. To help the here and now and to prepare for the future," he said. "A lot of it depends on the opportunities that are there. Right now, there's nothing in the works for the Boston Celtics. Doc Rivers likes our team. I talked with our four All-Stars recently, they all really like our team and they feel like they're better than they've been playing, and so, we'll see. These next few weeks will be big."

Kevin Garnett suffered a strained right hip flexor and may miss the Celtics’ next two games.

Doc RIvers was told by head trainer Ed Lacerte that the power forward needed a couple of days off.

"We'll find out tomorrow but it's really nothing bad with Kevin," Rivers said. "But Eddie really suggested two days off and then he said today maybe three days off."

The Celtics will be without Brandon Bass for the next 10 to 14 days because of knee inflammation.

Bass felt soreness after Boston’s loss in Toronto on Friday night and Doc Rivers learned the extent of the injury on Sunday morning when he received a call from doctor Ed Lacerte. Bass missed the Feb. 5th game against Memphis because of issues with his right knee felt against New York on Feb. 3rd.

“We knew the knee was bothering him, but then he got the treatment, and he missed that one game,” Rivers said. “There was nothing said after the Toronto game. Then Eddie called me this morning and told me he was out, and out for a while. That was a surprise.”

Two weeks from Sunday coincides with All-Star weekend, which would mean Bass could return on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Cleveland. Bass will likely miss a total of six games.

The NBA announced the reserves for the 2012 All-Star Game on Thursday.

Joining LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony on the Eastern Conference team are Chris Bosh, Luol Deng, Roy Hibbert, Andre Iguodala, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams.

Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Durant will have LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook on their Western Conference team.