My little brother looked at me in wonderment after watching Norris Cole, thought back to Iman Shumpert’s unfathomable aggression and asked, “What is with these cocky ass rookies thinking they’re superstars against the Boston Celtics?”

And that was before Cole attempted 10 fourth-quarter shots, made six of them, scored 14 points in the frame, took an important (and very questionable) charge on Brandon Bass and drilled two late jumpers that kept a resurgent Boston squad from fighting all the way back into the game. The Heat have Dwyane Wade, Lebron James and Chris Bosh, but in the fourth quarter all took a backseat as Young King Cole — a rookie from Cleveland State playing in just his second professional game — carried the Heat to the finish line of a 115-107 victory.

That the outcome was even in question at that point was a testament to Boston’s unwillingness to fade quietly into the Miami night. Down 15 points at the half and being blitzed by a Miami offense that often went from defense to dunking in less than three seconds, the Celtics had every reason to wave the white flag. They were being dropkicked from every direction and could have trailed by 30 points if it weren’t for Ray Allen’s effortless three-point stroke. The second night of a road back-to-back awaited in New Orleans on Wednesday. Midway through the third quarter, with the Celtics down 20, announcer Steve Kerr even suggested the Celtics should put in the subs and rest up for the Hornets.

But Boston wasn’t ready to concede. Allen kept drilling long bombs. Rajon Rondo returned to attacking the hoop with reckless abandon. Keyon Dooling came off the bench and got in the act. Kevin Garnett became more aggressive near the painted area. Brandon Bass hit some key shots. And Doc Rivers went all Jim Boeheim, calling for a 2-3 zone defense the Celtics have rarely, if ever, used in the Big Three era. The move was desperate. It told everyone in the arena that Rivers didn’t have faith the Celtics could keep up with Miami’s athleticism.  It reeked of an overmatched team praying for any edge against a powerful opponent that was playing like a locomotive. And it worked.

The Heat’s offense became stagnant. Boston began to get stops. Lebron and Wade stopped scoring so effortlessly. The zone defense ruined Miami’s rhythm and even when the Celtics returned to man-to-man, the Heat were not the same. The lead dwindled to 12, then to eight, then to five, and then to three. It was impossible, but with 1:46 left the Celtics corralled a defensive rebound and had a chance to draw within one or even to tie the score.

It just wasn’t to be.

Rondo threw a turnover in transition and Cole hit a jumper at the other end. The Celtics drew within three once more, but Cole again had the answer, drilling a one-dribble pullup jumper, a rookie displaying the confidence of a 12-time All-Star. There was no deferring to Wade or James, not by Cole, not on this night at least. The 23-year old who played in the Horizon League this time last year was willing to have his team’s fate rest in his shooting hand, and he came through.

While Boston will be able to comfort itself by thinking about the comeback, and that it held on strong in Miami despite missing All-Star Paul Pierce, the Celtics also have reason for worry. For the second straight outing, the Celtics played like their feet were stuck in dried cement during the first half. For the second straight outing, Jermaine O’Neal made a minimal impact, Sasha Pavlovic was Sasha Pavlovic, Avery Bradley played like he does not deserve a spot in an NBA rotation and the Celtics allowed a number of easy shots to an Eastern Conference contender. Boston’s zone defense helped bring Miami’s final shooting percentage down to 56.0 percent, but even that blistering clip was not enough to describe how easily Miami scored against Boston’s man-to-man defense. And if all those concerns weren’t enough, Chris Wilcox went down prior to halftime with a bruised shoulder. He did not return and Doc Rivers did not have enough confidence in JaJuan Johnson or Greg Stiemsma to insert the rookies during the second half.

Paul Pierce’s absence was supposed to hinder Boston’s offense more than its defense, but for the second straight game the Celtics shot better than 50 percent in a loss. The Celtics have looked dazed and confused on the defensive end of the court, not to mention a step or two slow. Even O’Neal — hell, ESPECIALLY O’Neal — who played such an integral role defending the rim whenever he was healthy last year, has allowed opponents direct flights to the rim. On this night the Celtics allowed 56.0 percent shooting and turned the ball over 24 times, while the Heat drained 60.0 percent of their trifectas and outrebounded Boston 38-28. When you take all that into account, it was a minor miracle that the Celtics kept plugging away and kept the score close.

The comeback was admirable, but it ultimately didn’t amount to anything the Celtics could put into the win column. It did force me to develop a man-crush on Keyon Dooling, but other than that, little except pride came from Boston’s second-half resurgence. The Celtics are now 0-2, and they can thank another amateur first half and a rookie who might have stolen Mario Chalmers’ starting position.

As J. Cole raps in The Return of Simba, “Cole under pressure. What’s that make? Diamonds.”

Diamonds and 18-foot swishes. I like the former a lot more, especially when the latter come against the Celtics and ruin what could have been one hell of a comeback.

But then there’s this:

The last time the Boston Celtics met the Miami Heat, Rajon Rondo’s left arm was a deflated balloon, the Celtics were limping to a 4-1 series defeat and the Lebron James-Dwayne Wade tandem was figuring out how to succeed against the NBA’s toughest defenses, a lesson the duo — and especially James — would infamously forget against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Since then, a lot has changed. Danny Ainge revamped the entire Boston bench, the Heat dealt with a relatively quiet offseason, Erik Spoelstra met with Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly to speed up Miami’s offense, expectations in Boston have been lowered, at least slightly, and Kris Humphries — helped (or hurt) by a marriage to Kim Kardashian that was shorter than Shaq’s shooting range — inexplicably took over from James as the NBA’s Most Hated Player.

After all that, the Heat and Celtics remain two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams, teams that have both a genuine respect and a bitter tinge of hatred for each other, both built during previous postseasons. The Celtics understand the Eastern Conference now goes through Miami. They know Miami was the better team last season, at least in the playoffs. They are entirely aware of how difficult a task stopping James, Wade and Chris Bosh can prove to be. But they would also like nothing more than to waltz into Miami tonight and steal a victory without Paul Pierce, not to mention shine a little bit of doubt on the growing feeling that this is Miami’s year.

Miami took a monster truck and ran it right over the Dallas Mavericks in the teams’ season opener, defeating Dirk’s boys by a far-worse-than-the-score-would-indicate 105-94 tally. It was a far cry from the way Miami started last season, when the team was hesitant and sloppy, clearly unsure of itself in the early stages of the Two And A Half Superstars era. Against Dallas, the Heat moved with a cohesive sense of purpose that wasn’t always evident last season, overwhelming the Mavericks with a fast break that broke like a tsunami and kept coming like bad Tyler Perry movies, displaying the swarming defense that was Miami’s best attribute last season while also showing the promise of an improved and devastating offensive attack. Miami’s win was Christmas Day’s most thorough performance, a beatdown that could not shake the memories of the 2011 NBA Finals but offered further hope that this year might be different.

Boston’s opening-day crusade was not nearly as thorough or as successful, but the Celtics can find solace in nearly defeating an improved New York Knicks team while Paul Pierce sat on the bench in a pin-striped suit. Despite the 106-104 loss, the Celtics will take a few positives from the Christmas Day affair: most importantly, Brandon Boss is a weapon off the bench, Rajon Rondo might have exchanged last year’s passivity for the aggressiveness of a pitbull (at least for the first three quarters) and Pierce should return at some point in the relatively near future, delegating Sasha Pavlovic back to where he belongs, on the bench (although some would argue he belongs elsewhere, such as at a men’s league near you).

The Celtics could very easily end tonight with an 0-2 record. Even if Pierce was at full strength, the Heat provide a fierce test, and I would rather jump out of a plane at an altitude of 25,000 feet with no parachute than think of Pavlovic defending James. Still, Rondo should be able to take advantage of Miami’s second-rate point guards, especially if he exhibits the same aggression he did in game one. Which is good: Boston could need another 30 and 10 from Rondo to surge past Miami.

It’s the rematch we’ve been waiting for. Rondo’s arm works again. James might be better than ever this season. Wade, as always, is destructive. Bosh vs. Garnett should be enjoyable like usual. Two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams are meeting at 8 p.m., and if it seems like their roles in this rivalry have changed since last year, that’s because they have. The Celtics now lay stationary in knee-high grass, staring down the front-running Heat from afar and hoping the opportunity to pounce will come.

Bleh. I hope we get to see some E’Twaun Moore in the meantime.

Joy. Now Sasha Pavlovic will likely start tonight’s game as Boston’s primary defender on Lebron James. That will definitely end well for Boston, don’t you think?

Brandon Boss

No, that wasn’t a typo. Brandon Bass = Brandon Boss. He had 20 points and 11 rebounds yesterday while shooting 9-13. But the stats alone don’t tell the story. I’m confident when Boss shoots jumpers. I’m happy when he gets aggressive (which is almost all the time). I’m thrilled that he has the athleticism to finish in traffic and not get his shot blocked 95% of the time. And I’m shocked that some backup power forwards have the hops (and slim physique) required to leap over opponents for rebounds. (Note: In case you didn’t notice, I was staring directly at Glen Davis while writing those last four sentences.)

I promise I won’t compare Boss to Davis all season. But Boss already matched Davis’ 2010-11 season high for rebounds, and his 20 points would have been Davis’ second-highest output all of last season. And if you listen to Kevin Garnett’s quote about Boss, Doc Rivers wasn’t the only one impatiently waiting for Davis’ contract to expire.

Otis Smith, I still don’t know what you were thinking.

Mr. Aggressive

Before I heap piles of praise on Rajon Rondo’s performance (and his production was certainly worthy of such praise), let’s just note that Rondo’s aggression disappeared almost entirely in the fourth quarter. Here’s his fourth quarter shot chart:

That’s it. Two shots, both of them jumpers, one make, no free throws, no layups. And that was after three quarters of complete domination during which he treated Toney Douglas like a red carpet directed straight to the hoop, causing me to jokingly tweet that Rondo will win the scoring title this season. The Celtics won’t realize their potential until Rondo realizes he needs to finish games with the same aggression that he starts them. Boston’s fourth quarter offense was a problem all last season and it reemerged as a problem yesterday. Until Rondo learns how to maintain his aggression into the fourth quarter, the Celtics will struggle to find their late-game identity.

Okay, enough griping about the fourth quarter. Rondo was fantastic. He put Boston on his shoulders. He was more aggressive than ever driving to the hoop, created contact with defenders to draw fouls like never before and even took some jump shots in perfect rhythm, as if he gained confidence over the offseason (which is actually a reasonably reasonable possibility, considering that Rondo had more time than ever during the NBA lockout to work on his jump shot). And oh yeah, he had 13 assists too.

There were surely extenuating circumstances surrounding Rondo’s great play. The Knicks defense (albeit slightly improved) normally resembles a pasta strainer with holes big enough to fit New York’s opponents. Toney Douglas isn’t exactly a Rondo stopper. Boston’s offense was stagnant and Rondo had no choice but to be aggressive. All those factors helped lead to Keyser Soze Rondo.

But Rondo attacked more consistently yesterday than ever. Until the fourth quarter.

But…

How big is the burden on Rondo? Until Pierce returns, the Celtics don’t have any other reliable shot creators. Not a single one. Brandon Boss can occasionally find his own shot, but he’s also reliant on teammates to find him open for spot-up jump shots. Kevin Garnett was never particularly aggressive and now doesn’t have his old athleticism. Ray Allen used to be a true threat in the pick-and-roll but now he’s not nearly as independent scoring the rock. And the next time Sasha Pavlovic, Marquis Daniels, Keyon Dooling, Mickael Pietrus or Avery Bradley create a play by themselves might be the very first. Even Pierce isn’t as capable as he used to be in the one-on-one game. The Celtics will need to rely on running their offense for a large percentage of their buckets — and they’ll need to rely on Rondo for almost everything else.

Avery Bradley

If you like players who occasionally dribble the ball out of bounds for no reason at all, couldn’t hit a jumper if it stuck its tongue out in their faces and generally look lost on the basketball court, Bradley’s for you. I know I’m being harsh. It was just one game. He’ll get better. He’s a hell of a defender, one who can pick up full-court and harass an opposing guard for 94 feet. He’s a second-year player with oodles of athleticism whose raw ability needs to be harnessed and worked on, yada yada yada.

But Bradley also is not productive enough offensively, at least at this point in his career, to warrant playing time. So thank you, Mickael Pietrus, for choosing Boston. The Celtics need you.

An oddly weak impact

Jermaine O’Neal didn’t have the best season last year. With a month left in the season, I was ready to declare O’Neal the world’s softest player and hire two henchmen to kidnap him and force him into retirement. But then something funny happened. He returned and played through loads of pain, played through a broken wrist and was phenomenal in the playoffs, at least defensively. He proved what he was made of, and he definitely wasn’t made of cotton candy like we suspected for most of the season.

I will always fear that O’Neal’s going to get hurt on his next possession. But when he’s out there, I thought he would protect the rim admirably and maybe score a few buckets accidentally.

Instead, he scored six points, snagged only two rebounds and managed to pick up five fouls. He did block two shots, but he also looked late on a lot of rotations. I thought Doc Rivers described O’Neal’s performance best:

Rivers said, “I thought he was a little slow, late on a lot of stuff. But in the third quarter, he played terrific.”

The Celtics need more from O’Neal. After all, he’s their only center.

Kevin Garnett’s minutes

Maybe this whole “let’s play Garnett more at center” experiment isn’t the best idea after all. The Celtics played reasonably well with Garnett in the middle (some lineups did better than others), but it’s the playing time I’m concerned about. The Big Ticket played 21 minutes in the first half and 37 for the game. I understand the Celtics have no natural centers once O’Neal gets into foul trouble. But playing Garnett almost 40 minutes — especially in a lockout-shortened season that should increase the wear and tear all by itself — is not cool.

Offensive efficiency

Last season, the Celtics had the NBA’s highest field goal percentage but finished tied for 17th in offensive efficiency. On Christmas, the Celtics outshot the Knicks from the field, 51.3-47.3%, took two more shots than the Knicks and outrebounded the Knicks, 41-31.

So how’d Boston lose? Three aspects of the game that might haunt Doc Rivers’ team all season: The C’s made seven fewer three-pointers, drilled two fewer free throws and turned the ball two more times than the Knicks did.

The Heat later tonight. Hopefully the Celtics can avoid an 0-2 start.