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.

Doc saw some problems with Game Four.

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “The 6-foot-4 scoring machine [Dwyane Wade] is averaging 33.8 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the field during the series. Those are the type of numbers that cause an opposing coach to hold film sessions three times as long as usual. That’s what the Celtics did yesterday, spending an hour watching film before hitting the practice floor for another 60 minutes. ‘A lot of stopping and starting and then explaining and then re-explaining, and that happens,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘That happens when you win sometimes, too. I thought we needed to watch it.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I think when you’re watching film, and you’re pointing out some of the same themes that you’re doing wrong at both ends of the floor, you don’t mind watching,’ said [Ray] Allen. ‘As a team, we’re so keyed in to trying to figure out what we need to do to be better. When we watch film, the film doesn’t lie — the position we’re in, getting better position, making the extra pass on offense, seeing what they’re doing against us. It’s the best piece of education we own. We walk out of film session feeling so relieved. We understand why certain things happened. We get to that problem and keep certain things from happening again.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘I thought for the most part everybody wanted to get this settled in Miami,’ said Garnett. ‘And do it with one shot or one pass.’ In some cases, watching how it all played out makes everything clear. ‘When you’re watching film and it’s pointing out some of the same themes of what you’re doing wrong on both ends of the floor, you don’t mind watching it. As a team right now I think we’re so keyed in we’re trying to figure out what we’re trying to do to get better. The position we’re in, getting better position, making the extra pass on offense, seeing what they’re doing against us, it’s the best piece of education we own. We walk out of the film session feeling so relieved. We understand why certain things happened. We get to that problem and keep certain things from happening again.’ For Paul Pierce, the Celtics’ mistakes were evident while he was on the floor. ‘I noticed everything yesterday,’ Pierce said. ‘I saw it all. Up close and personal. I was there to see it all. We had our chances to put it away, obviously. Some late plays down the stretch. Hopefully we’re a lot better, especially at home to close this thing out.’”

Celtics Insider, Boston Herald – “All of that seems to suggest that Wade’s outburst in this series — and Game 4 in particular — has been a fluke. The numbers rarely lie, and in Wade’s case they say he’s a below average 3-pointer. But is this hot streak a fluke? Here’s how Wade explained his 3-point shooting after today’s practice. (Quotes courtesy of Herald friend Ira Winderman, who covers the Heat for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel). ‘I shoot more threes in the playoffs, anyway,’ Wade said. ‘I play around through the season. But I shoot more threes in the playoffs anyway and I work on them a lot more and I’m very confident. And I know if I hit one, I can get on a roll.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I didn’t think we had the same defensive urgency we had in Game 1 or Game 2,’ Rivers said. ‘You can’t change much [with Wade]. You have to do a little bit better in what you are doing and if he’s making shots, he’s making shots. It’s tough for anybody guarding Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, LeBron James. We knew that going into the series. Dwyane Wade’s a great player, give him that, but we’re going to defend him. It’s going to be tough. If I can find a guy in the league that can keep Dwyane Wade in front of him whenever he wants to, we’ll sign him. Hopefully [principal owner] Wyc [Grousbeck] has some more money and we’ll get him. It’s going to be a team effort, not one guy.’ Wade is a career 48 percent shooter, but he is shooting 60 percent in this series, a disturbing statistic for a Celtics team that has long prided itself on containing high-scoring players. Wade missed 19 shots during that Jan. 6 game. Sunday he missed eight.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald – “Then Beasley said something interesting. He said, ‘the pressure is when [Wade] has an off night and he’s 6 for 20 or something. That’s when the pressure comes. When somebody’s got to step up.’ It can’t be one or the other if Miami is to win Game 5 and keep winning. It has to be Wade on his game and others stepping up. Start with O’Neal, whose 6-for-34 shooting in four playoff games (17.6 percent) amounts to the worst offensive stretch in his long career. One of O’Neal’s tattoos reads, `For The Love Of God.’ And one can imagine that has been the exclamatory of many Heat fans watching his shots go awry, as in: ‘For the love of God, will you please make a [bleep]ing basket!’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “After dropping a career playoff-high 46 points, setting three Heat postseason records and making every play to stave off elimination in his last game, Dwyane Wade was asked to comply with just one request: ‘Keep it going,’ teammate Dorell Wright said after practice Monday. ‘When he’s playing like that, you just want to see it keep going. I’m sure that hot hand will still be there in Game 5.’ In other words, Wade just might have to deliver an encore to Game 4 if Miami has any chance to keep its postseason alive entering Tuesday’s game against Boston at TD Garden.”

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel – “Need to sum up the theme of the night in a simple catchphrase? Then summon Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Sunday, when the theme was ‘reveal,’ you could hardly miss it before the game in the locker room or after the game as the Heat savored the 101-92 victory over the Boston Celtics that kept it afloat in this best-of-seven opening-round NBA playoff series that now shifts to TD Garden for Tuesday’s Game 5. ‘When you start preparing for each specific team, sometimes there’s a specific key that kind of supersedes everything else,” the second-year coach said. “An 82-game season is a long grind, and sometimes there’s one key word that might be the most meaningful thing, not only for that game, but for the last 48 hours, something that we’ve stressed and we need to focus on.’ It is difficult not to focus on the nightly Spoelstra-isms. They are everywhere, the phrase often repeated four, five, six times on the nightly scouting board. The points are reiterated by Spoelstra in his pregame media sessions, in his separately recorded pregame radio interview and then his pregame speech face to face to his players. ‘I see it when I first come in and it kind of snaps me into that mode,” veteran forward Quentin Richardson said of catchphrases that have ranged from ‘energy player’ to ‘finish’ to ‘starters set the tone.’ They are ubiquitous on the strategy board that frames the big screen in the home locker room and a portable strategy board set up in the middle of the locker room on the road, as it will be Tuesday at TD Garden. ‘When I first come in, I look at the board,’ Richardson said. ‘When I’m sitting here, changing, I look at the board. So I’ll be really into what he’s saying already and knowing what he’s talking about by the time he brings it up.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “Heat forward Quentin Richardson was cleared to play Tuesday after an X-ray and MRI on his bruised left hand were negative. Richardson sustained the injury in Sunday’s victory against the Celtics and had his left ring finger immobilized after the game. He will wear a protective splint. ‘No matter what it was, I was going to play,’ Richardson said. ‘Nobody had to even worry about that part.’”

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

"Encouraged by a bad loss? Does that even make sense?"

Look, I’m not giving the Celtics a pass for the mistakes down the stretch yesterday.  A lot of plays could have, and should have, been made: Rajon Rondo’s missed runner in the lane from three or four feet away, Ray Allen’s three missed free throws and Kevin Garnett’s two more, and a missed box-out that resulted in a Michael Beasley tip-in.  The mistakes ended up being the Celtics’ unraveling, even after they withstood Dwyane Wade’s explosion.

But somehow, despite playing the first quarter as if in a South Beach hangover and the last as if they’d never played in pressure situations before, the Celtics were right there at the end with a chance to steal a victory.  Boston got bloodied in the first quarter and battered for parts of the second, but bounced back.  They cut an 18-point deficit down to six points by halftime and turned that deficit into a seven-point lead in the third quarter.  The Celtics displayed resolve that had abandoned them throughout the regular season, unwilling to succumb without a fight.

While Dwyane Wade and co. kept the series alive with a win, everything had to go right for them to get it: Wade went bananas, Quentin Richardson outplayed Paul Pierce, Ray Allen missed three free throws in a game (and did it all in a row, in the clutch) for the first time since Dec. 26, 2006, and a comedy of fluke-ish errors down the stretch was the only thing that kept Boston from STILL pulling out the victory.  Wade proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is the best player in the series but “Boston,” as Chris Sheridan so succinctly put, “is still clearly the better team.”

A couple Celtics writers agreed that Boston’s loss was nothing to worry about.  Not yet, at least.  Here’s Jeff Clark, from CelticsBlog:

We got the Heat’s best punch yesterday.  They came out with desperation and determined focus.  They flummoxed our offense up and couldn’t miss on their side of the floor.  The Celtics were down 17 and then down 18 a little later on.  This game could have been out of reach very easily.  In fact, I’d argue that in the regular season, this team might have punted the game and accepted a double digit loss.  Instead, they stayed focused and got back into the game.

Most impressive was the fact that it wasn’t any one player trying to be a hero.  Pierce hit some shots, KG hit some shots, Rondo was doing his thing, it was just a good team game and it was working.  They just missed some fluky shots and ran into an unstoppable force in Wade.  It happens.

The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn also saw positives in the defeat.

Wade was decent today. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Dwyane Wade was beyond sensational today in  keeping Miami’s season alive with a 46-point performance.  Here is a collection of quotes about Wade’s electric day, just in case you want to continue bashing your head against a wall.

AP (Via Fox Sports) – D-Wade saves Heat from elimination

“Sometimes, you know, he puts on the cape, man,” Heat forward Quentin Richardson said. “There’s not a lot of things you can do when he’s playing that way.”

ESPN – Wade’s hot hand saves Heat from elimination

“We don’t take Dwyane for granted, that greatness. He has another gear and another depth to reach into to carry a team on his back. And you see it, and you start to believe. When his back is against the wall, it is an utter defiance,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. [...]

“Step-in 3s are a shot we’d usually give him because he’s known for his drives and his mid-range,” Paul Pierce said. “On a normal day those are shots you want him to take, but it wasn’t a normal day.” [...]

“What we revealed was a real defiance and stubbornness. They had been knocking us down, and today was only about getting up. And Dwyane has the most flagrant defiance and stubbornness,” Spoelstra said. “People were saying we would quit, but Dwyane led the way by revealing his character and what he is made of.

“They say adversity builds character. We say adversity defines character. Now, it’s a one-game thing, and we’ve got to fight and scrap and continue to reveal our character.”

CSNNE – C’s chance at sweep brushed off, Heat rally for win

“We have to defend him better, obviously,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “He was fantastic. He made shots and he had to make them, but he made them. We have to defend him better. He has hurt us this entire series and we just have to do a better job.”[...]

“Dwyane was sensational,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “Dwyane as our leader and as our captain just led the way.”[...]

Said Wade: “I’m a rhythm player and once I get in a rhythm, I think I can make any shot.”

ESPNBoston – Postgame notes: No answer for Wade

“We started doubling him late, just trying to get the ball out of his hands,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. “He was coming down, stepping to that 3-point shot — a shot that we would normally give him on a night-in, night-out basis — and once he started hitting it, it was difficult to really guard him because he is known for his driving and getting to the hoop. When he’s hitting 3-pointers like that, he’s tough to guard.

“The way he played tonight just basically willed his team to a victory. He just put it all on his shoulders. He did a good job of it.”

CSNNE – Celtics Notes: No answer for D-Wade

Said Tony Allen who was among the handful of defenders used by Boston, who were ultimately used by Wade: “He got hot. He’s Dwyane Wade. We have to make the adjustment and try to come out and get Game 5.”

Boston Herald – Celtics can’t stop Dwyane Wade, can’t close out series

“We have to defend him better, obviously,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “We talked about it at halftime – getting into his body. He was making 3’s, and if you do not get into a guy’s body, you give him that chance to make 3’s. Give him credit. Wade was phenomenal.” [...]

“I would agree with Doc,” Tony Allen, one of the Celtics’ designated Wade trackers, said of the need to play the Miami guard tighter than a cheap prom tux. “We have to be more physical with that guy. We have to take away his air space and make things harder for him. We have to just be better.”

CBS Sports – Wade’s hot hand keeps Heat alive, but simply delays inevitable

“He did what he was supposed to do,” said Rondo, who led the Celtics with 23 points and nine assists. “He took the game over. That is why he is who he is. That is why he is the man for the Heat.”

Unfortunately for the Heat, basketball isn’t a one-man game, and they remain one game away from the offseason. Suckas.

On this day, Dwyane Wade was unstoppable.

Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. The Boston Celtics, even after a Dwyane Wade performance that will forever stand in the annals of NBA history, had an opportunity to overcome the Heat and complete a four-game sweep of the first-round playoff series, but five straight missed free throws — three by Ray Allen, two by Kevin Garnett — ended any hopes of a comeback and sent the series back to Boston for Game Five.  The Celtics would go on to lose 101-92.

A few minutes into the fourth quarter, which the Celtics began with a 77-71 lead, Dwyane Wade looked down at his smoking right hand, eyes bulging and body pulsing after singlehandedly rescuing his team from the broomstick treatment.  Wade had just connected on four straight three-pointers, a 30% three-point shooter digging deep into his bag of tricks to avoid losing in what could prove to be his final home game as a member of the Miami Heat, and wasn’t done yet.  By the time he drilled his fifth straight bomb, the Heat had a 93-82 lead and Wade was almost done writing a new, 46-point page in his storied career. Only an enthusiastic Boston double-team that picked up Wade at halfcourt, a tactic of desperation used a last resort to cool off the scorching superstar, kept Wade from breaking the half-century mark.

Wade’s heat stroke came as the Heat looked ready to unravel.  An early 18-point Heat lead had turned into a 7-point deficit and Miami looked ready to prepare for summer vacation before Wade’s right hand started to percolate with flames.  Only Wade’s epic masterpiece of near-perfection kept Miami’s season alive and kept the Celtics from the fifth sweep in franchise history.

The Celtics will return to Boston to try to finish the series, with nightmares of Wade at his finest haunting their sleep.  A clean Celtics sweep was a possibility entering the day, and seemed almost an inevitability as the Celtics erased the early deficit, inched ahead of Miami and looked prepared to tear out Miami’s heart.  The Heat players’s shoulders were sagging, their faces drooping, and the players seemed inclined to play out the final twelve minutes of their season without passion.  All of them, that is, except for one Dwyane Wade.

And so the Heat live to play another game, and their flame-throwing superstar, for at least a few more days, will remain a member of the one team for which he’s ever played.  The series is now 3-1 and, while it still seems almost impossible that Miami will advance to the second round, it is more clear than ever that Dwyane Wade will not allow himself, nor his team, to disappear quietly into the offseason.

*****

Game Notes:

• Ray Allen’s three straight missed free throws marked the first time all season he has missed three free throws in a single game.
• Rajon Rondo, with 23 points and 9 assists, dominated play for much of the game but didn’t play his best in the fourth quarter.
• Garnett had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
• Quentin Richardson was red-hot to begin the game, and finished with 20 points.
• Kendrick Perkins was scoreless for the second straight game, but did have 8 rebounds.

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.

The glorious taste of heart-wrenching defeat.

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “‘In the regular season, if something happened the way it did tonight in the fourth quarter, it would have been, ‘Man, you’ve gotta do this, you’ve gotta do that,’ ‘ said Allen. ‘Now we’re all helping each other.’ Winning Game 3 when you’re up, 2-0, is huge, and it’s something the Celtics haven’t done since defeating Indiana in a best-of-five in 2002. ‘I’ve got to tell you,’ Rivers said. ‘In the first quarter, I said, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to win or lose, but we’re here.’ ‘ Welcome back, boys.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘And it’s coming at the right time,’ Perkins said. ‘At the start of the season, we had kind of . . . we were trying to send a message.’ Message sent. ‘Those are great players that have been in a lot of playoff games and pressure games and made those shots before,’ said Heat guard/forward Quentin Richardson. Added Dwyane Wade: “This team is good. They have a lot of veteran guys who step up to the billing and do it. They all do their job. It’s unfortunate and it hurts.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I was ready for them to come foul and I was going to try to get a shot up, but they didn’t come,” said Pierce. “I just got to my little sweet spot on the right elbow and got a good look at the rim. It was a tight game and I was feeling pretty good about my game, especially in my mid-range. I just wanted to have the ball in my hands and be aggressive.’ Said the 6-foot-9 Wright: ‘I gave him some space to close out on, but he made a tough shot.’ Pierce’s teammates felt good with the game in his hands. ‘We put our faith in his hands that last shot,’ said Allen. ‘He came through for us. It’s great to have somebody that can make shots like that at the buzzer.’ Echoed Kendrick Perkins: ‘That’s the Truth. He lives for games like this. I expected him to do that tonight. He was attacking and his jumper was falling.’ But those winning shots hadn’t fallen in a while for Pierce. Not since 2006 say the statistics. But his coach never lost faith. ‘He is a star,’ said Rivers. ‘He never loses his confidence. The play before that Ray missed, Paul glanced over and you could tell he wanted the ball. You always like when your players do that. … He hasn’t played great in the first two games, but you could feel before this game he was starting to get his rhythm. And when he gets his rhythm. He is really good.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘He was huge – that’s the Truth, he lives for games like this,’ Celts center Kendrick Perkins said. ‘I expected him to do that tonight. He was attacking, and his jumper was falling.’ And there was nothing that Wright could do to stop it. ‘He’s a big-time player, and I definitely knew he was going to take the last shot,’ the Miami swingman said. ‘I just tried to give him the best defense I could. It’s definitely hard, especially when they make shots like that. But give it to Paul. I played him the best I could.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “Just watching the Celtics run their play, there were terrifying options everywhere. Would Allen shake free of Mario Chalmers and hit yet another jumper? Would Udonis Haslem help too much off Kevin Garnett and leave him to take the final shot? Would Rajon Rondo create havoc off the dribble with Quentin Richardson forced to defend him while Wade was being treated on the bench? Pierce knew he’d have one defender on him. And in the NBA, one-on-one normally means murder for the defender. Pierce got Wright slightly off balance, stepped back and released. It was his comfort shot. Wade didn’t get that privilege. Hence the results. It’s the way it’s supposed to end, really. Because a Heat win Friday would’ve been provided nothing but false confidence.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘Obviously my scoring’s been down,’ Pierce said of his production the last three years. ‘I’ve tried to do other things and bring to the game what the game needs that day. Obviously they didn’t need me to score 30 points in Game 1 or Game 2. I had to do the other intangibles to help my team win. Tonight it was just one of those nights. That’s what I try to do night in and night out: just figure out what role I’ll play that night. It’s not going to always be my scoring. Those days are over with for putting the load on my shoulders and having to score 30 every night. I just try to pick my spots and give the game what I feel like it needs. Tonight I felt like it did need my scoring, and I filled it. We were on the road, and I decided to be a little bit more aggressive. And it paid off.’ It’s even more rewarding for Pierce, in that this comes in a season when he’s been drawing down his bodily debit card. He’s had his knee drained, his ankle and foot bruised and his twisted left thumb pulled from its mooring. ‘This has been one of my more trying seasons, man, to tell you the truth,” Pierce said. “I’ve never been injured this much in my career. I had a surgery. It just seemed like it was coming back to back to back. After my knee surgery, I had a sprained ankle then right after that a sprained thumb. It was very trying because I’ve been used to playing through a lot of injuries. And at this point in my career, this age, I don’t heal as quickly as I used to. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about my body this year. I learned to take more rest, because I’m not the 24-25-year-old Paul Pierce who can bounce back as quick. I just have to allow myself to heal. That’s why I struggled and had so many inconsistencies in the middle of the season.’”

Chris Perkins, NBA.com – “‘The Celtics are starting to play well,’ Boston center Kendrick Perkins said. The fact that Celtics forward Paul Pierce hit a 21-foot jumper as time expired to deliver a dramatic 100-98 Game 3 victory at AmericanAirlines Arena Friday only tells part of the story of how Boston has taken a commanding 3-0 lead in this first-round playoff series. ‘We’re a veteran team,’ said Pierce, whose step-back jumper over Miami’s Dorell Wright was good as soon as it left his hand, ‘and we don’t get rattled, especially in crucial situations.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I got on Perk a little bit because I just told him to remember who he is,’ Rivers said. ‘You’re playing great defense and you’re rebounding. So what, you’re missing layups. Just don’t let that take you out of your job. You could see his shoulders slumped. Everybody was like, ‘C’mon man,’ because he’s so important for us when he plays well. And it’s tough to play when your spirit is down. I was glad to see him on the floor and he made some great defensive plays for us.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Wade spilled to the floor clutching his left knee area after the cramps intensified when he missed a 3-point attempt in a tied game with 11 seconds to go. Boston hauled in the rebound and called a timeout to draw up a final play. Wade was attended to by trainers, then carried off the court, putting no weight on the leg. ‘I was just cramping up the last five minutes of the fourth [quarter],’ said Wade, who Spoelstra said sweat through two jerseys during the game and could be seen getting his left leg massaged near the bench during the final frame. ‘I was trying to hold it off as much as possible. When I bent down to shoot the shot, it came. It was a bad cramp. I couldn’t even bend my legs. I didn’t step on [the defender's] foot. It’s nothing serious, just cramping.’”

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald – “No team in NBA history has come back to win a series after losing the first three games. The Heat might not even have the legs to rally in Game 4 on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. That is because Heat guard Dwyane Wade didn’t have the legs to finish Friday night. Wade had 34 points and eight assists, but left the game with 11 seconds left because of severe cramps in his left leg. Wade fell to the ground after he missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key with 13 seconds left. He was helped off by trainer Jay Sabol and center Jamaal Magloire and didn’t return. ‘I wanted to attack, and I wanted to be aggressive,’ Wade said. ‘I had nothing. I was trying to fight through it. The basketball gods were with [Boston] because I wasn’t able to put pressure on it.’”

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.