"AHA! I know how to get at Boston! I'm going to pretend I know what the Celtics are like when they're losing.

After Quentin Richardson was elbowed in the face by Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal decided he would get into the fray and spit his own two cents. O’Neal called the Celtics front-runners in today’s Boston Herald.

“They’re probably one of the teams in the league that talks more than usual, especially when they are winning,” Miami center Jermaine O’Neal said. “They don’t talk as much when they’re losing. I think that’s a part that people look at, that opposing teams look at.

“We understand that they get into the talking thing, and we just have to make sure that we don’t lose our focus and get out of our rhythm of what we do best.”

What I’m curious to know is how, exactly, O’Neal knows what the Celtics are like when they’re losing? The Heat have now lost four straight games to Boston this season, and 12 of the teams’ last 13 meetings overall.

So, umm, Jermaine? Maybe you should actually beat the Celtics once or twice before you say they don’t talk as much when they’re losing.