There's Perk.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics went back down to battle the Hawks in what they thought would be a warm-up of a first-round series. Having waxed the Hawks by a combined 42 points in the first two games of the series, they figured they’d grab two wins, head back north, and rest up for the second round. Two losses later, they were thinking otherwise. ‘That’s all I think about now,’ Ray Allen said. ‘It resonates so big with this team now, because we were flying high, up two. We blew them out both games in our building. We had all played in that building before. We didn’t expect what we saw.’ The Hawks were playing their first home playoff games since 1999, and even though there were actually fewer people in the building than there were in the late-season meeting, there was more emotion. ‘When we went and played them playoff time, it was a totally different atmosphere,’ Garnett said. ‘I can honestly say it was a shell-shock to our team.’ ‘That building carried them to two victories there,’ Allen said. ‘You think about how that building is now. In the last two years, they’ve got great fan support, and I think it started right there in the playoffs two years ago.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “‘Yeah, absolutely,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘I told them that. Guys, at the end of the day all we’ve done is win two home games and Miami has yet to play a home game. That’s how they’re thinking for sure. Whether we won last by one, or whatever we won by, Game 3 is going to tough and we understand that.’ Kevin Garnett noted that when he traveled to Miami for the Eastern Conference Finals in 2006 to watch Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace play with the Pistons that the crowd was a factor. ‘Just anticipating it being very hostile,’ Garnett said. ‘Watching Chauncey and Rasheed play them, how hostile and how crazy that town can get when they’re behind their team. It’s what we’re anticipating.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “The C’s are expecting the Heat’s best shot in Game 3. ‘We’re figuring their backs are against the wall and they’re thinking that, if they don’t get Game 3, then this is pretty much over,’ Garnett said. ‘I know that’s what I would be thinking so we’re going to have to be ready for that.’ The Celtics were one of the league’s best road teams in the regular season, but they don’t think that success carries much weight in the playoffs. ‘It’s great to know that you can win on the road, but Miami could care less about our regular season record on the road,’ Rivers said. ‘And we should care less about it. We have to come to play and earn it.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “Including this series, Boston has won 13 of the past 14 against Miami. The Celtics beat the Heat by an average of nearly 20 points in Games 1 and 2, held a double-digit margin in rebounding, outscored Miami 44-20 on free throws and limited the Heat to 39 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the best — and perhaps only — thing Miami has going for it through two games is Wade. And Wade alone hasn’t been enough. Even as the Heat trailed by 30 in the fourth quarter Tuesday, Spoelstra left Wade in to send a message — not to Boston, but to his own team. DON’T QUIT. ‘I wasn’t going to throw in the towel,’ Spoelstra said, referring specifically to Game 2 and, perhaps, the series. ‘I understand what the score was. That’s not even a habit I want in our minds right now.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “‘We gotta expect the worst from (in Miami),’ Allen said. ‘We can’t go into there thinking like Game 3 is Game 2.’ But as the Celtics prepare for tomorrow’s flight down to South Beach, there are a few things working in their favor. One is that they’ll be well-rested. The playoffs are void of the hectic scheduling and back-to-back games that dominate the regular season. And for a C’s squad that uses a nine-man rotation with five guys that are 32 or older, the extended time between games is an added bonus. If not a straight up advantage. ‘I love it,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘It’s great for us. Don’t forget that we’re so old. I don’t think it hurts us at all. Especially with the travel day, because this is a long (trip). This is not your typical hour and a half flight to play a game. It’s a three hour-plus flight. So this allows us to have this day of film and then a day off, kind of, and then a hard practice tomorrow and a long flight that gives you time to recover.’”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “The Celtics are not having trouble holding down the rest of the Heat. Astonishingly, beyond Wade’s .611 from the floor, no Heat player is shooting better than Mario Chalmers’ 41.7 percent. By contrast, five Celtics are shooting at least 50 percent. ‘Our focus is always going to be on Wade,’ Celtics forward Paul Pierce said. ‘But, at the same time, we can’t let the other guys have big games and that has to be our focus, too.’ Spoelstra said what is most important now is that his team pulls together. ‘What we can control right now is getting our minds right, and taking care of the most important game, Friday, Friday night,” he said. “So that will be our test, in terms of being able to bounce back by keeping our mental stability. And that’s usually been strength of ours all season.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Everybody shoots 3-pointers and many hit an occasional one, but that doesn’t make them a 3-point shooter. It’s when a player can drain 3-pointers in a hurry, with burly centers charging them like Michael Strahan closing on a quarterback, that strikes fear. That frightened look of an oppoenent when Allen gathered the ball and has a split-second to release. When Allen and his teammates are stretching the floor and making those open shots, the Celtics are an elite team. It is the reason Glen “Big Ticket Uno Stub’’ Davis (or whatever he is referring to himself in Kevin Garnett’s absence) had room in the paint to maneuver for layups. Allen’s presence and effectiveness changed the game and is a good sign for the Celtics in their quest to advance to the second round. ‘When Ray keeps answering with threes, that’s what he’s here for,’ center Kendrick Perkins said. ‘I know he didn’t have a big first half, but I knew he was going to have a big second half. I watched him after [Game 1]. He came in and got his shots up three times a day, so I knew he was going to have a big game in Game 2.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Rivers again credited Perkins with finding Michael Finley for an open 3-pointer early in the second quarter. Finley’s shot began a critical 21-0 Celtics run that was highlighted by sharp ball movement. ‘Doc kept saying we just had to keep making the extra pass,’ Perkins said. ‘Baby was open a lot on the duck-ins, so I kept hitting him. If he wasn’t open, then the guards from (3-point range) were open. The thing about the Heat is they’re a great help team, but I don’t think they make the second effort to help. They’re going to help on the first pass, but it’s the next pass that the guy is going to be open.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Hearing Doc Rivers talk about Anderson Varejao and Joakim Noah, you’d think he has a little man crush. Then again, all coaches have great affection for large hustlers who enter a game and break some eggs without concerning themselves with points and other starry stats. It’s easy to get the impression that Rivers badly covets such a player. But does he already have one? ‘Sometimes,’ the Celtics coach said. ‘Baby when he does it can be that,’ Rivers said of Glen Davis. ‘But that’s tough. Either that’s in you or not, for the most part. When Baby does it, he has the same ability. He’s not as long as those two guys, but he’s bigger and stronger.’”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “Then there is his team being able to avail itself to three nights of South Beach, including just before Sunday’s 1 p.m. Game 4. ‘Miami always has an advantage,’ Rivers said at his team’s Waltham, Mass., practice facility. ‘New York has an advantage. L.A. has an advantage. That temptation is always there, so we’ll see.’ But, no, Rivers said there would be no curfew. ‘No, they’re grown men,’ Rivers said. ‘Hell, they have kids older than mine.’”

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