The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Pierce has earned everything thats come his way. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “His path to success, however, couldn’t be more different from James’s. Since he made the leap to the NBA from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003, James has been on the fast track, and living up to the hype. Pierce’s road has been winding. The hype and stardom evaded him to the point where he persistently calls himself the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. Forgoing star status, self-confidence — and sarcasm — are Pierce’s coping mechanisms. He tells the world he’s one of the best shooters in NBA history, then wins a 3-point contest to validate it. He says he’s the classic case of a great player on a bad team, then outduels Kobe Bryant — the league’s gold standard for individual greatness — in the NBA Finals. Why does success come faster for some than others? Why do some people immediately command respect while others have to earn it over time? Why is it that when some players say they’re chosen, they’re taken at their word but others have to spend years proving it? ‘I know at the end of the day, when my career’s said and done, everything I achieved, I worked for,’ Pierce said. ‘Nothing was ever given to me. That’s one thing I can honestly say. I think when you come along the ranks, whether it’s from high school or college to the pros when you’re automatically given stuff, you know . . . ’’ He left the thought unfinished. ‘But at the end of the day, everything I’ve gotten in my career, and I continue to get, I worked for it and I earned it.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘Just going against the best, regardless of whether it’s LeBron, brings it out in me,’ said Pierce. ‘Just going against the best teams. Over the years whenever I’ve played against a top team, I want to make sure I show up for that game. I want to play my best, and on the big stage playing against the MVP, the best player in the league, it brings the best out of you. I’m comfortable doing anything,’ he said. ‘I don’t limit myself to just being a shooter or driving. I’m a natural-born scorer, and if the shot is there I’m going to take it all over the court. I feel good, my shot feels good and my body feels good, and that’s the most important thing. Just being healthy helps me to do the things I know I can do on the court.’”

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Because of it, the rivalry between the two teams is now complex. It dates back to Pierce spitting at the Cavs bench and nearly getting into a fight with James in a preseason game in 2004. It was fueled recently when Boston reserve Glen Davis was seen perhaps trying to purposely slap at Shaquille O’Neal’s injured thumb. Then, in the last meeting on Easter Sunday, James got into a heated exchange with Garnett after James missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer. But there is no missing the respect level the Cavs have for their now underdog opponent. It shows on the roster, where they responded to the Celtics’ moves by making three cash-absorbing trades to land All-Stars to play with James and then signing pieces to support the core. Even the close-knit relationship the Cavs have in the locker room and the interaction and antics on the bench are, in a way, nods to the Celtics. It was the team-building exercises the Celtics had to start the 2007-08 season that helped them forge chemistry. It was the Celtics’ active bench — it often bent the rules by basically becoming an extra defender at the end of close games with players straying from their seats — that was the basis for how the Cavs behave now. Deep down, beyond all the on-court talk, there is a respect. And the Cavs see beating the Celtics, which is what they intend to do, as a rite of passage into what they hope will be the same finish Boston had two seasons ago when they last met.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “And what Jordan brought to the game in flare, athleticism, and dominance, James equals with strength, all-around skill, and speed. There is only one Jordan, but James is making a loud enough impression on today’s NBA to create his own mystique for a new generation of children to emulate. ‘If you turn around, he has 35 [points], 8 boards, and 9 assists and that means he’s all-around, not to mention the steals and the blocks,’ Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said. ‘He affects the game is so many different dimensions. Dominance is dominance,’ Garnett said when comparing James and Jordan. ‘New era. New rules. Different tales of the tape. Apples and oranges. Both of them sweet. You love both of them. They are both good for you.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “It’s not just that James can score, which is a big enough worry. It’s not even that he can, and does, pass. It’s that when he passes it’s to a bevy of 3-point shooters. Or it’s to a collection of jump shooting big men. Or it’s to a rolling big flying down the lane toward the rim. The Celtics have already dealt with one superstar in the playoffs, but unlike Dwyane Wade, LeBron won’t be dishing off to the likes of Quentin Richardson and an aging Jermaine O’Neal. The Cavs may not have superstars around James, at least not superstars in their prime, but they do have a vast assortment of capable role players that compliment his skills. ‘The 10 [rebounds] and 10 [assists] we can’t have,’ Doc Rivers said after a two hour practice Thursday. ‘The 30 and the 40 [points] we don’t want, and if he has it we want him to have it our way, not his way. That upset with us with Wade in a couple of games.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – Forget LeBron vs. Pierce. Don’t even worry about KG vs. Jamison. Look past Rondo vs. Mo. This series will be decided by “Big Baby” vs. “Wild Thing.” The two players are more similar than immediately meets the eye. Both are capable of providing a spark off the bench, both can be overly dramatic and flamboyant, and, most importantly, both do all the little things that hardly show up in the box score, such as keeping rebounds alive, chasing loose balls, and taking charges. ‘He’s the biggest threat on the floor,’ Davis said of Varejao. ‘At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to win the series is the energy guys. He’s everywhere. He’s a pest. He’s showing off screens, he’s getting his hand on balls. He’s getting rebounds. He’s getting easy putbacks, getting free-throw rebounds. His energy is a big key for that team. What he brings is hard to find. He’s the type of player that can determine a game.’”

Jodie Valade, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Anderson Varejao pointed to a darkened patch of skin on the inside of his right knee after Friday’s practice. ‘You can still see it,’ he said. It’s the spot where Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose’s knee knocked into the Cavaliers forward’s knee during Game 2 of the first-round series. The injury seemed to knock Varejao off his game for the remainder of series. Varejao swears the bruise didn’t hamper him. He said the foul trouble he found in each of the next four games had a bigger impact. He managed just 25.2 minutes per game, and hit only 37.5 percent of his field-goal attempts in the series. He was unable to find a rhythm against the Bulls, and as a high-energy player who feeds off emotion, he needs rhythm more than anything else. ‘It’s special for me,’ Varejao said. ‘I need rhythm to play really active.’”

Kirk Minihane, WEEI – “I think the Celtics and Cavaliers each own one huge edge when you break down the two teams as we head into what I think will be a seven-game playoff series. The advantage for Cleveland? Sebastian Telfair and his inside knowledge on how to stop Rajon Rondo. Well, that and the very best basketball player in the world at the absolute peak of his powers. Would anyone be shocked if LeBron James averaged a triple-double in this series? As great as Dwyane Wade was in the last two games of the first-round series, LeBron will be better. Bank on it. And how about the Celtics? When I looked over the matchups and handed out the check marks, I was surprised at how easy it was to give Doc Rivers the nod.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “But with 6:00 left in the fourth, and Utah up 98-95, Kenyon Martin pushed Deron Williams as he drove toward the basket, and Martin earned a technical foul. From then on, the unraveling began. Chauncey Billups earned a technical a minute later, and Utah went on a 14-9 run to close out the game. And with 51.1 seconds left, the fans began chanting, ‘Beat L.A.!’ ‘These kind of things, I’m sure it will take awhile to sink in. It’s been awhile since I’ve had this feeling this early (in the playoffs),’ said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups, who has been to the conference finals in each of the past seven seasons. ‘You just got to give credit to the Jazz. They stole homecourt advantage from us, and they won all their home games.’ ‘Anything short of a championship is disappointing, especially for the team we have in place,’ Martin said. ‘But last year is last year — a lot of teams were gunning for us. They want to be where we were. That’s the way teams are playing. We just didn’t get it done, bottom line.’ With the loss comes questions. Has the window closed on the Chauncey-Melo Nuggets, or do they have one more season in them to win a title? Will the Nuggets endure another season with mercurial head case J.R. Smith (a good bargain who can get hot), or will they try to deal him? Will Rex Chapman and Mark Warkentien, front-office execs with expiring contracts, both be back? Are Martin’s knees sturdy enough to give it another go, or will he miss chunks of time next season too? And, of course, will coach George Karl be able to return from throat and neck cancer and lead his troops once again?”

Mike Bresnahan, LA Times – “Better make room for another historic tenth of a second. Six years after Derek Fisher’s unforgettable “0.4″ shot came Pau Gasol’s “0.5″ clincher, another last-second theme on a different Lakers team that pushed itself past the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gasol’s follow of Kobe Bryant’s miss provided the final points Friday at Ford Center, an apparent loss turned into a 95-94 victory with the flick of two hands and half a second showing on the scoreboard. The Lakers will have barely 36 hours, if that, to celebrate another memorable playoff moment for a franchise filled with them. They eliminated the Thunder, four games to two, and begin the Western Conference semifinals at home Sunday against Utah at 12:30 p.m.”

Bill Plaschke, LA Times – “‘Tough,’ Ron Artest said, confirming it with his tired voice and his wrecked body, sitting in front of his locker with two ice packs on his knee and one on his shoulder. ‘Tough.’ Man alive. Enough already. The Lakers didn’t win this series, they escaped it. They didn’t beat an eighth-seeded opponent, they beat a heavyweight contender. They spent more than a week mostly stumbling around against the league’s youngest and fastest team, allowing themselves to be pushed to a Game 6, then show their championship mettle and grab a seven-point lead with five minutes left, and what happens? Tough got tougher. The noise grew louder, rattling your courtside keyboard, making it impossible to hear anything but Thunder. The giant white balloons — Thundersticks, of course — incessantly flapped, pounding the head, again and again. And the Lakers began to fold. Gasol charged. Kobe Bryant bricked. Gasol fumbled. The Thunder drained and dunked and finger rolled and, suddenly, the Lakers were trailing by a point in the final seconds. It is over yet? Fittingly, it was over only after one star rescued another, Gasol charging the lane as Bryant’s jump shot bounced off, Gasol grabbing the ball with two hands and putting it back in the basket with 0.5 seconds remaining.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

A few more Ray Allen daggers won't hurt the C's cause. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

My Little League coach had a favorite saying, one that he’d dust off any time our team got a little bit of breathing room.

“Close the door,” he’d say. “Let’s close the goddamn door.”

Tonight, the Celtics should heed his advice.  A 2-0 lead and a Game Two drubbing has closed the door on the Miami Heat halfway, but that pesky piece of wood is still slightly ajar.  No matter how good the Celtics looked at home, this series isn’t over.  The Celtics still have two more wins to go.  The seven-game battle royale Boston played against Atlanta two seasons ago stands as a cautionary tale of what can happen to a team that rests on its laurels away from home.

As bad as things were for his Heat in Boston, Dwyane Wade thinks the series hasn’t even started yet.

“You’ve got to keep in perspective that a series doesn’t start until a team wins on the other team’s court,” Wade said after Thursday’s practice. “So we’ve got to come home and take care of our home court. We’ve played well the end of the year here. We should be confident.”

But there is nothing for Miami to be confident about.  As much as Wade would like to think the series hasn’t started yet, his team is down 2-0.  As well as they played toward the end of the regular season, the playoffs are a different animal and the Heat have so far spent them getting slapped around.  Lose tonight and Wade, probably wearing some goofy outfit, will be golfing by next week.  As unlikely as it seems that Miami could win four games out of five against the Celtics, winning four games in a row won’t happen.  And that’s the daunting task the Heat will face, should they lose tonight.

A Celtics loss tonight wouldn’t mean certain defeat in the series.  Far from it.  But it would give Miami an opening to swoop in and make this an interesting series.

“I don’t think you should be happy [with the two wins," Doc Rivers told the Boston Herald. "We haven’t done anything. We’ve talked about that already. There’s no reason to be happy. You’ve done what you should do. You won two home games. Be happy when you get to four. That’s all I’ve talked about. Two wins shouldn’t get you happy. Three shouldn’t get you happy. Four you can be happy."

And the Celtics will have Kevin Garnett back to help them on their quest to four.  The Big Ticket missed out on the Game Two smackdown, as a suspension forced him to watch from Danny Ainge's basement.  In that game, Quentin Richardson was an object of abuse for Boston fans, and tonight Garnett expects nothing less than the same venom to be directed his way.

"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."

In a bit of defiance toward the idea that a crowd will be able to affect his play, Garnett added, "I don’t expect any of us to get any cheers down there and I’m no different from that.

"I’m not saying I’m the villain or the hero," he said. "I could care less. I’ve played on the road before. Hell I played in San Antonio and I know they hate me there for whatever reasons. So this should be no different. I could care less."

The crowd may not be able to affect Garnett, but will certainly be out in full force behind a Heat team needing a victory to keep alive any hope.

"Whether we won [Game Two] by one, or whatever we won by, Game 3 is going to [be] tough,” Doc Rivers said, “and we understand that.”

Step one is understanding.  Step two is doing.

Step three is closing the damn door.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

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.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

If you were a rebounding center, who would be the worst player you could be compared to?  Maybe Mark Blount.

If you were a shooter, maybe Ben Wallace or Andris Biedrins.  A defender, perhaps Jason Kapono.  A winner, potentially Vince Carter.  Good teammate, probably Andray Blatche or Gilber Arenas.

But who would be the worst player you could be compared to, if you were an intelligent NBA point guard?  It just might be one of the two players Kevin Garnett compares to Rajon Rondo.  (Jimmy Toscano, CelticsBlog)

Asked to compare Rondo with previous point guards that Garnett has played with, Stephon Marbury and Chauncey Billups, Garnett had even more praise for Rondo.

“Rondo just doesn’t score the ball, he’s just as intelligent as Steph or Chauncey.”

I know Garnett didn’t mean it as an insult, but a compliment.  But to say somebody is “just as intelligent” a basketball player as Stephon Marbury?  The man who never seemed to know when to shoot or pass, to be aggressive or passive?  That’s nothing short of a backhanded slap across the mug.  Pretty severe, as far as insults go.

To be fair, KG did play with Steph (the first time around) when Steph was a rising stud, and one of the NBA’s top young point guards.  Back then, he was a dime machine and could get to the rack on anybody.  But even though he put up big numbers, Marbury was never a winner.  His intelligence — even before people started to try to put Marbury in a box, even before vaseline became part of his diet, even before selling dirt-cheap sneakers became more important than his NBA career — could always be questioned.

I’d like to think Rondo’s a smarter player than Steph, and that it isn’t even close. Anybody with me?

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

"Give me some skin, Kev."

Green Street, WEEI – [Wyc Grousbeck interview] “Interviewer: ‘Is there a team that makes you nervous matchup-wise in the playoffs?’ Wyc: ‘The team that makes me nervous is the Celtics. I’m serious, I think we have a chance to be as good as anybody at any given time. And it’s not just flashes of it. I think people are looking at us and saying, let’s avoid those guys in the playoffs. I think it starts with us, and then worry about the other teams. We should be worried about other teams, Atlanta beat us four times, Cleveland has the edge on us, obviously the Lakers and other people out west. Orlando beat us last year. We’re worried about a ton of teams, but it starts with us.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “But just how extraordinary was Boston’s efforts Wednesday? The folks from ESPN Stats and Information help put it in perspective. The Celtics generated 17 offensive rebounds — double their season average of 8.5 per game. And while that aided them in putting up a season-high 90 field-goal attempts, Boston still maintained an offensive-rebound rate (the percentage of offensive rebounds vs. total number of available boards) of 37.8 percent, which is 15 percent higher than their season average (22.6 percent). Boston finished with a 45-36 advantage in total rebounds. ‘We’ve been trying to [make offensive rebounds a focus],’ said Kevin Garnett. ‘I think [Glen Davis] as of late has been in offensive-rebounding mode. I think he has been averaging three or four these last couple games. But the focus is always to rebound, get the ball to [Rajon] Rondo, hit the lane and run the court; speed the game up and use our quickness, by getting the ball to Paul in his spots. Rebounding is totally a focus right now going down to these last couple of games.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – You can debate whether they’re playing their best ball, but after a 2-1 road trip and a thorough home win against the Nuggets, at least the Celts again can talk about the possibility of a long playoff run with a straight face. It moves one to wonder just how hurt these guys were when they staggered around the NBA during the middle of the season. Paul Pierce finally admitted to the depth of his injuries and gave himself a dope slap for sailing on when it would have been better to rest. And there is little question this isn’t quite the same Kevin Garnett who was carrying around his right leg as if it were someone else’s appendage. So is this simply a matter of getting more whole, or did the Celtics suffer from a brain deficiency, as it seemed when they were glossing over their plays? ‘I think it’s been a little bit of both,’ Pierce said. ‘I think when you’re physically down, it can wear on you mentally. You know, you’re seeing guys go down. Guys that you truly depend on aren’t there. That can be tough, and it seemed like it was happening every other week.’”

Peter May, ESPNBoston – “‘Sheed is going to be Sheed no matter what. And that can go either way,’ Chauncey Billups said. They won a championship together in 2004. They nearly won another in 2005 and were teammates for five years in Detroit. Billups had mostly positive things to say about Rasheed Wallace in the wake of yet another underwhelming performance by the Celtics’ prize free agent of 2009 (2 points, 3 rebounds, 4 fouls in 15 minutes in the Celtics’ 113-99 victory over the Denver Nuggets). But, Billups also knows we have not seen anything close to what we had hoped to see from No. 30. Let’s just put it this way: Wallace need not worry about saving space on the trophy shelf for the NBA Sixth Man Award this season. ‘He’s not the player athletically that he was in ’04 or even in ’05 or ’06,’ Billups said. ‘Mentally, he’s always been a smart player and I don’t think he’s lost that. But this is kind of how he was last year in Detroit [when he basically packed it in]. I don’t know what you all were expecting.’”

Marc D’Amico, Celtics.com – “You see, most NBA playoff teams have a firm grasp on who their top seven or eight players are. Those are the players that will garner all of the playing time in the postseason. For Rivers, that couldn’t be any farther from the case. With the recent acquisitions of veteran swingman Michael Finley and sparkplug Nate Robinson, Rivers now has a plethora of options both on the perimeter and in the paint when it comes to bench players. In fact, there’s such an abundance of talent that Rivers will often send 10 players onto the court in a game and get positive results from each and every one of them.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Smith, nor anyone else, could guard Pierce tonight. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Paul Pierce set a back screen.  Kendrick Perkins floated a lob up near the rim.  Kevin Garnett rose up, snatched the pill out of midair, and slammed it home with authority.

With that, the Boston Celtics’ first possession of the game, the tone was set.  That one play symbolized what the Celtics proved for the rest of their 113-99 victory: They aren’t too old, and they aren’t ready to pass the torch to the next wave of contenders.  What they ARE ready to do — finally ready to do — is to establish themselves somewhere in the vicinity of the NBA’s mountaintop as the regular season draws to a close.

Every game Boston has played recently has been another opportunity to prepare for the playoffs.  With the postseason only a few weeks away, the Celtics are wiping off the rust, sharpening the edges, and regaining lost magic.

Pierce, especially, has returned to being a constant scoring threat capable of imposing his signature on a game.  By the time the Garden crowd sat down, it seemed, Pierce had already scored in double figures.  He finished with 14 first-quarter points, scoring in every conceivable way besides the long ball (Pierce ended the game 0-3 from deep).  For the game, he had 27 points, in only 32 minutes.

My favorite Pierce moment?  It was probably his most selfish play of the night: He drove to the hoop from the right wing, and two defenders collapsed on him as he took it hard to the cup.  As KG’s defender keyed in on Pierce, KG opened up just outside the free-throw line for a jumper.  What did Pierce do?  He put it into another gear, drawing contact and bulling his way to the bucket.  He didn’t finish the play for an and-one, but his aggressiveness drew the foul and got him an easy look.  He could have tossed the ball out to Garnett for a jumper, but instead took it in his own hands to keep pressure on the defense.  No need to settle.

The Celtics didn’t settle at all, all night long.  They pounded the glass.  They got to the rim with ease.  They did exactly what they were supposed to do against a Denver Nuggets team missing its toughest player: Go into beast mode.  It’s rare to see a team win a basketball game in which it shoots just 4-18 from behind the three-point arc, but that’s exactly what the Celtics did.  They were able to come away victors, despite laying a hotel full of bricks from outside, by constantly being the aggressors.  How many times this season have you seen the Celtics a step slow and a day late going after loose balls?  A lot.  But tonight was different.  Far different.  The Nuggets were the ones who looked stuck in cement all night.

I’ve written almost 500 words so far, and haven’t mentioned Rajon Rondo once.  All he did was chalk up a triple-double.  All he did was pounce on every loose ball.  All he did was dominate a game in which he took only nine shots.  11 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds. Oh yeah, and four steals too.  And he held Chauncey Billups to just 12 points.  Advantage, Rajon.

Another player who played superbly?  Those of you who didn’t watch the game aren’t even going to believe me, but Tony Allen.  In his first significant action since the Celtics signed Michael Finley, Allen subbed in for a foul-plagued Marquis Daniels early in the second quarter.  By halftime, he’d scored 10 points, flushed down a tomahawk slam off a beautiful Rondo left-handed around-the-back pass, and completely changed the complexion of the game.  Daniels didn’t return to the game after halftime, and it wasn’t because of foul trouble.  It was simply a case of being outplayed by a minutes-starved T.A.

All the great individual performances were great, but it was the team play that clinched the C’s best — and most impressive — home win of the season.  A late run by a small-ball Nuggets lineup to end the third quarter was the only time the game seemed at all in doubt.  A couple minutes later, after implementing a small lineup of their own, the rout was back on.  The Celtics put on a clinic in team basketball, with  30 assists on 44 field goals;  great ball movement throughout;  punctual defensive rotations at every opportunity;  box outs, even;  and a team-wide commitment to the offensive glass, too.

And they did it all against a good team.  One of the best in the league, if you want to get into a little more detail.

If you’re a Celtics fan, times are good.

*****

• Carmelo Anthony is very good at basketball, and even better at scoring.  He ended with 30, despite being silenced down the stretch.
• Garnett had a double-double, with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  He could have had even more points, missing a lot of chippies.
• J.R. Smith scores buckets.  21 points, in 30 minutes.