The Boston Celtics are accomplished and they are proud, and occasionally those traits morph them into cocky and disrespectful. Their performance in Game 4 — when they could have, and should have, opened up a 3-1 series lead — brought the latter traits into the forefront, but the former characteristics provide a basis to believe the Celtics will not be unraveled by their 18 minutes of dysfuntion.

The Big Three-era Celtics had never blown an 18-point postseason lead before Friday night. The Sixers, for 24 minutes, were everything that bothers the Celtics. They were athletic and long and attacking and they would not stop pounding the glass, nor would they stop forcing turnovers and getting easy looks in transition.  The Sixers spent the final two quarters of Friday’s game giving a clinic in how to beat the Celtics — limit Rondo’s transition opportunities, body the Celtics in the paint, be as physical as possible with Kevin Garnett, and use dribble penetration to break down one of the NBA’s fiercest defenses. The Sixers were much, much better than Boston during the latter portion of Game 4.

But the Celtics are accomplished and they are proud, and if you think they lost any confidence as a result of the battering, you probably haven’t paid much attention. I won’t even describe past seasons, since only the nucleus remains from 2010. But this season brings plenty of evidence that when the Celtics get backed against the ropes, they respond with a series of haymakers. Injuries or heart issues ended the seasons of Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green. Doc Rivers simply plugged the next guy into the rotation and his team kept improving. Ray Allen went down, so Avery Bradley stepped in (and up). The Celtics were 15-17 at the All-Star break, but Doc Rivers swore — both to the media and to Danny Ainge behind closed doors — that his team would turn its season around. They finished with the league’s best record after the break.

This team was so confident it chose not to reach for home court advantage. The Celtics approached the playoffs with a chance host the Hawks in the first round, but they decided to rest regulars down the stretch. Their reasoning, besides having a number of nagging injuries: We’re good enough to beat the Atlanta Hawks — anywhere, any time. Now the Celtics still have home court advantage against Philadelphia. It’s safe to assume they still believe they’ll beat the Sixers two times in the next three, no matter how many times Evan Turner dashed into the paint Friday night.

Celtic Pride, at least in the Big Three era, is both a gift and a curse. It enables the Celtics to predict sun even when everybody else in the world sees a wild rain storm approaching. It also enabled the Celtics to collapse and look indifferent during the second half of a game that would have all but put the Sixers away.

The Celtics believe they’re going to win two of the next three games. Now, they only have to do it.

Avery Bradley is not practicing today because of the shoulder. Doc said a lot of guys wouldn't be playing with it.

May 20, 2012 12:25 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Pflanns

Paul Flannery

Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce seem quite impressed with Bradley’s heart, though Rivers is concerned Bradley won’t be able to stay on the court for the remainder of the postseason. (WEEI and Boston Herald)

“It came out and went right back, which is crazy. It’s a tough thing what he’s going through. A lot of players would not be playing, I’ll say that,” Doc Rivers said. “He’s dealing with stuff. It’s just tough. It really is. I swear a lot of people would not be playing and the only reason he is, is because he wants to. I am concerned at some point that he may not be able to anymore. We don’t know what game that is, we don’t know what day he can finish it and we can keep going all the way and he can play and tomorrow could be his last game.” …

“It just says who he is,” said Celtics forward and captain Paul Pierce. “A guy who wants to be out there. A guy that wants to win and do anything he can to help this ball club. What more can I say? A lot of young players would probably sit down and worry about their futures or careers or contract situations, but at the end of the day Avery has to do what’s best for him and his family and possibly for the long run. Hopefully, he doesn’t have any longterm injuries due to the fact that he’s playing. I think it’s a fine line.”

The list of 21-year old NBAers tougher than Avery Bradley:

No, I didn’t write anything in white font. That’s the whole list.

In honor of Kevin Garnett’s 36th birthday, I just head-butted a basket stanchion and unleashed a 45-second monologue of nothing but four-letter words, and I will heretofore act half my age while pretending that last night’s thorough collapse never happened (at least once this post is published, or until referencing the collapse again makes sense, probably while slamming my head repeatedly against my desk). For my gift to Garnett, I will never again call him old. Even though he is.

Garnett will wake up this morning, slap himself in the head a few times, listen to the happy birthday voicemail he received promptly at midnight from Charlie Villanueva, wipe away nightmares of Thad Young running wild through the Philadelphia night, eat a crowbar for breakfast, drink a double dosage of the Elixir of Life from his hip flask, look in the mirror and remind himself, “You’s an ill dude.” To celebrate the occasion, he’ll probably take an ice bath and head over to the gym to shoot 500 midrange jump shots.

The Celtics gave one away last night. You know this, I know this, Garnett knows this, the lunch lady in the cafeteria serving sloppy joes knows this. At halftime last night the Sixers were doing their best to simulate what would happen if a team started five Ben Wallaces. The crowd released a string of boos to reward such a miserable effort, but Boston led by just 15 points at halftime when the advantage should have been 30.

The Sixers seized the game with a late run, but the Celtics really should have stomped them out in the first half when they had the opportunity. One reason for the Celtics’ inability to put Philly away in the opening 24 minutes even when the Sixers had “please, end our misery” tattooed across their foreheads was an old issue: Boston cannot score efficiently with any consistency. After erupting for 12 points in the first 2:33, the Celtics scored just 12 more over the next 13 minutes. Another reason included “THREE OF THE FOUR RESERVES IN WHOM DOC RIVERS RELIES ARE RYAN HOLLINS, KEYON DOOLING AND THE INCREDIBLY STREAKY MICKAEL PIETRUS.”

What went wrong in the ensuing half? As Doc Rivers said, according to ESPN Boston, “Everything we did was the prescription that you don’t do to beat them. [A] 17-5 [edge] on offensive rebounds, 17 turnovers, 36 free throws — you would have thought we were down the whole game if you looked at those numbers.” Rivers also explained, “”We did more than settle; we lost our composure. We stopped running our stuff. Whenever that happens, I always think that’s me. I think that there is something the coach can do to slow them down, to get them back in their sets, to get them back in their rhythm, and I couldn’t do it. To me, I always think that’s my fault.”

An old, wise team played the part of discombobulated young whippersnappers for the second time in four games. The famed Celtics defense broke down to allow several wide open dunks. Dribble penetration came easily for Philadelphia, and help never arrived. The below-average Celtics offense was just that. Rebounds were ignored, cutters ran freely without any opposition, and my memory keeps reminding me that Ray Allen had very little chance of staying in front of anybody he defended.

And yes, Garnett was not good. He still rebounded better than any of his teammates and defended like the pick-and-roll-stifling prototype he is, but Garnett fell back to Earth yesterday — and he landed with a thud, with Lavoy Allen and Doug Collins standing over him baring their teeth. Despite getting a number of makeable shots, Garnett finished 3 of 12 from the field for just nine points. He committed seven turnovers, many of which resembled the time Tony from “Blue Chips” threw a game while playing for Western University and coach Pete Bell.

The Celtics are not going to win games because of their depth. Allen is struggling with his movement and struggling to hit shots (after last night’s 1 for 4, he’s now just 9 for 31 from the arc for the postseason). Hollins is shooting 7 for 21 (33.3%) in 114 playoff minutes, with just 18 points and 15 rebounds. He sometimes makes great defensive plays, but he also might launch a turnaround fadeaway airball from 14 feet. Pietrus could hit his next five shots or miss his next 45. Keyon Dooling hasn’t provided much besides pressure defense and a bunch of great locker room quotes.

With so much going wrong with the second unit, the Celtics have been overly reliant on Garnett to win games. His absurd plus-minus stats in the playoffs (the Celtics were 56 points per 100 possessions better with Garnett on the court entering yesterday’s game) paint the picture. Yesterday, Garnett was not the wrecking ball he had been. It wasn’t the only reason for the loss, but it was one of the important ones.

Happy birthday, Big Ticket. Here’s to hoping your first performance as a 36-year old bests your final at age 35.

To call that a blown opportunity would be insulting blown opportunities everywhere. If the Celtics hadn’t completely fallen off a cliff and died on impact after seizing an early 12-0 lead, this series would be 3-1 and for all intents and purposes over. The Sixers did whatever they could during the first half to hand this one to Boston. They missed free throws like a bunch of Shaqs, shot 23 percent from the field and were clearly laying motionless on the ground, waiting for the Celtics to jump off the top ropes and end this game with a devastating People’s Elbow. But the Celtics didn’t capitalize. Instead the Sixers regrouped in the second half and have all the confidence in the world returning to Boston.

In the final two quarters, the Celtics got beat to every loose ball, got outrebounded by who-knows-how-many (if I look that stat up right now I might throw my computer out the window), and allowed approximately 47,365,287 open shots, layups or dunks.

The series is now 2-2. It shouldn’t be.

Paul Pierce sprained his MCL in shootaround prior to Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks and then scored 24 points in 17 minutes later that same night. I know I’m opening myself to a whole line of wheelchair retorts, but Pierce simply doesn’t feel pain like most humans. Jermaine O’Neal would have missed four full seasons with a sprained MCL.

The Boston Celtics entered Game 3 looking to make a statement. Kevin Garnett gathered his teammates to remind them of Ubuntu, Rajon Rondo smiled not during pregame shootaround and Paul Pierce screamed gutturally after almost every possession. But now the statement has been made. Philadelphia no longer possesses any feeling of overconfidence. The Celtics waltzed into the Wells Fargo Center and landed a knockout crane kick to the Sixers’ collective jaw.

The next challenge for the Celtics is bringing that same mentality again for Game 4. (CSNNE)

“We won the first one and now we have another one,” Rivers said. “The key is to keep our focus and play the way we played, with the same energy and not play like, ‘You won one. Now you can relax.’ ”

“We won Game 1, but there was almost a sense that we stole it from them,” Allen said. “And in Game 2, we kicked ourselves because we feel we should have won that one. After those two games, [the Sixers are] looking at it like, ‘Hey, we’re supposed to be up 2-0′ and we’re going to our home floor.’ [Game 3] was evident if we played convincingly the way we did last night, in the first two games, there would have been a different feeling around the series but it’s not. We have to take Game Three and produce that same feeling, that same effect in Game Four.”

Yes, the Celtics operated on a different level during Game 3 and made a statement that they’re a superior team. Yes, they could lose Game 4 and still return to the TD Garden with home court advantage. But this isn’t about just squeaking by the Philadelphia 76ers and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. A greater goal rests beyond the horizon. This is about the Celtics giving themselves the best chance moving forward.

Paul Pierce, regardless of how hard he attacked the rim in Game 3, needs to rest his sprained MCL. Ray Allen, who mustered just one shot attempt in Game 3, desperately needs a little time off that injured ankle. Kevin Garnett, as beautifully as he’s played, turns 36 years old tomorrow and could use some R & R. And Avery Bradley’s shoulder just called. It said it might stop popping out so goddamn much if it had a little time to strengthen.

The other Eastern Conference Semifinals is shaping up to be a long series. If the Celtics can end things with the Sixers early — and I know this is skipping a few steps on the ladder — they could have some time to catch their breath and heal their bodies.