Once in a while, someone else’s article catches my eye. Sometimes, it’s because the article is so spot-on I wish I’d written it myself. Other times, it’s because the article enlightens me with something I never knew. Still other times, it’s because I disagree with whatever’s written. No matter what the reason, I dish it off to another writer to make his/her point. You know, throwing some dimes.

"Told you I was the best."

1. ESPNBoston – Practice Report: Doc Rivers said Kendrick Perkins was the C’s best player yesterday. He played well but… really, Doc?

“Perk’s been fantastic defensively, he’s doing a great job and a lot of it is 1-on1,” said Rivers. “You can’t use too many guys on [Jermaine] O’Neal with [Dwyane] Wade running around. I think what he’s doing is great, trying to fight [O'Neal] off the block, and he’s been pretty good at that.

“I thought Perk was the best player in the game [Tuesday]. I thought his passes is what got everybody shots. Most of [Glen Davis'] layups came off Perk passes. A couple of Ray’s shots and, again, the biggest play of the game, when [Miami] was up four, and I had gotten on them three or four times about making the next pass, Perkins threw that skip pass to Michael Finley for a 3-pointer. I think he played a great floor game and he was our point-center [Tuesday].”

2. Boston Globe – Ready to play the villain: Kevin Garnett is ready for some venomous boos from the Miami crowd.

“I don’t know if he can get more fired up in a game,” Rivers said. “That’s just who he is and we want him to stay that way. It’s important for him to play with that edge. And I think he’ll love being the villain because I think he enjoys that anyway on the road. Actually, I think most players enjoy that pretty much.”

Garnett hasn’t been winning popularity contests lately, with Joakim Noah being the most vocal hater. But he’s been Public Enemy No. 1 in a couple different arenas. Miami will be nothing new.

“I don’t expect any of us to get any cheers down there and I’m no different from that,” Garnett said. “I’m not saying I’m the villain or the hero. 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.”

3. Slam Online – Q +A With Kendrick Perkins: Perk likes being the underdog.

SLAM: Do you feel this team has a target on your back after winning a championship two seasons ago?
KP: Yes and no. That was two years ago. Maybe last year they did, but this season I don’t think anyone really placed a target on our back. I don’t really feel anyone has picked us to win this. I think it is a great thing to have the ability to come in and surprise people and be the underdog.

SLAM: Do you feel this team likes being the underdog?
KP: For sure. I love the idea of being able to sneak up on people. Because a lot of people do not realize you always work a little harder when you are the underdog. People expect less and you give them more. It’s such a great process.

4. Real GM – Ray Allen: The NBA is softer now

“The league is a lot softer,” Allen said less than 72 hours after teammate Kevin Garnett elbowed Miami’s Quentin Richardson in the final moments of Game 1.

Garnett was suspended one game for his actions in Boston’s victory.

“The slightest little touch and you’re at the foul line,” Allen said of today’s game. “It’s like you have to be tricky.”

Allen then gave a perfect example of how the NBA has changed over the course of his career.

“Reggie [Miller] would grab my hands and throw them one way while going the other way,” he said, adding that he was expected by referees and coaches to defend such a move.

“That’s what made guys so great at what they did.”

5. Boston Herald – Wednesday Practice Notes: Ray Allen knows the C’s haven’t won anything yet.

Ray Allen said the C’s learned a lesson from the 2008 playoffs when they were dominant at home but struggled on the road in the early rounds.

“That’s all I think about,” Allen said of the team’s struggles with Atlanta in the first round of the 2008 playoffs. “It resonates so big with this team now because we’re flying high up two (games).”

6. Boston Globe – Celtics will need Wallace to step forward: As well as Glen Davis played, C’s need more out of Sheed.

The arrangement was fine for last night, but at some point in these playoffs Wallace has to be heard from on the court — and not just pleading his case to an official — or like him the Celtics will go out silently into the night. They cannot return to the NBA Finals if all they’re going to get out of Big Shot ‘Sheed is the combined 10 points and 6 rebounds they’ve gotten in the first two games of their Eastern Conference playoff series.

They need him to be the versatile, accomplished, clutch veteran presence off the bench he was billed as when he came to Boston, not the barely visible one he has been so far. As Mark Jackson would say, Rasheed Wallace you’re better than that.

Wallace said he and the Celtics would be ready when it was time for the “big-boy shots.” While the Celtics have turned up their game in the postseason, we’re still waiting on Wallace.

7. Celtics Hub – The Value of Ray: Zach Lowe describes how Ray Allen broke yesterday’s game wide open.

Ray’s value goes well beyond his three-point shooting percentage. And if you ever doubt that, you can do two things:

1) Look at Ray’s plus/minus stats, which have been by far the best of any Celtic over the last two seasons and show a consistent ability to elevate bench players; or

2) Much more fun: Watch the stretch between the 6:26 and 4:41 marks of the 3rd quarter from last night’s game.

The C’s scored 12 points in that 1:45—and Ray was responsible for all of them.

8. Ball Don’t Lie – Behind the Box Score: Kelly Dwyer predicts the Heat will win at least one game in Miami

It was a complete and utter blowout. Boston refuses to guard anyone but Dwyane Wade, they’ll essentially send two and a half defenders at the Heat’s All-Star every time he calls for a screen or attempts to drive, and the results aren’t pretty. A 76.5 points per game average for Miami in the series, and I don’t really need to normalize that for pace for you guys. It doesn’t get any better.

The only way Miami takes a game in Florida, and in this series, is if Boston relents. And because Boston has spent half its season relenting, I fully expect the Heat to take a game in Florida, perhaps two.

Wanna throw your own dime, and get someone’s article recognized? Email me at jayking@celticstown.com or follow me on Twitter.

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.

Blowouts are fun. Especially when you ball your ass off. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Kirk Minihane, WEEI – “With apologies to Ray Allen (who put on a shooting display in the third quarter that rivals any I can remember from a Celtics player in the playoffs), it was Davis that earned First Star honors in the 106-77 humiliation of the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Tuesday night. Just how big (forgive the pun) a factor was he? Well, with 8:37 left in the third quarter he had 17 points, or as many as Dwyane Wade, Jermaine O’Neal and Quentin Richardson-Laimbeer combined. Big Baby threw a circa 2008 Garnett 23-8 line at the Heat, while shutting down Michael Beasley when it mattered (Beasley was 6-of-14 from the field, with most of his points coming during Geno Time.) And he brought his usual law firm of Energy, Energy and Energy to the court, simply out-hustling the front line of the Heat. OK, O’Neal blocked four of Davis’ shots in the first quarter (Davis was on pace for the rarest of triple-doubles at halftime — 28 points, 12 boards and having 10 of his shots rejected) but, like Duke once said about Rocky, the man just kept coming after him. So what? Is he going to pout? You think Davis isn’t used to having his shot sent back in his face? He doesn’t care. Just puts his head down and gets to the basket. ‘One man impacted the game with just his effort,’ said Heat coach Eric Spoelstra of Davis after the game. ‘I’d be shocked if they have one play for him in the playbook.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “Glen Davis will say things that leave you scratching your head. He’ll act out in ways that are beyond comprehension. Sometimes you’ll ask him a question, and he’ll just stare at you — better yet, through you — leaving you to sit and wonder, ‘What in God’s name is going on in there?’ He’s a riddle, wrapped inside an enigma, contained within a McDonald’s 20-piece. He’s Manny Ramirez’s distant cousin. But for all that Davis does to arouse anger and confusion off the court — whether he’s tearing up on the sidelines, channeling Daniel LaRusso on the eve of the season opener, screaming profanities at opposing fans or changing nicknames more often than Diddy — there’s one thing about him that is, and always will be, crystal clear: The guy’s a gamer.”

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe – “Is there really any need to play any more games in this series? Bring on the Cavaliers, people. It’s true. Boston’s boys of winter are peaking at the most important time of the year. The Causeway Street barn is our April Garden of Eden and the momentum won’t be stopped just because Garnett is suspended for a night. Nobody puts Baby in a corner. ‘I just knew that the Big Ticket was out and the Ticket Stub had to fly in today,’ said Davis. ‘Whenever they need the Ticket Stub, Glen Davis is here. Big Baby. I’m just worried about playing and getting wins. That’s all that matters to me.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Reprising his role as Garnett’s understudy, Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Celtics’ 106-77 Game 2 victory, doing all his damage mostly via energy.Before he took the court, Celtics captain Paul Pierce took a look at the lineup he’d have around him. ‘I said, ‘This is the same lineup we had going into the playoffs last year that pushed Orlando to seven games,’ ‘ Pierce said. ‘With Glen out there in the starting role, we all know what he’s capable of. He’s confident. He’s playing the type of basketball he knows we need him to play. Did I know he was going to have a big 23-point game with eight rebounds? Not at all. But I knew he was capable of filling in the role nicely and doing what the coaches asked him to do. With him out there, chemistry is fine. We felt like this was a game we were supposed to win with or without Kevin. So he did a great job with filling in.’”

Chris Sheridan, ESPN – “Up until recently, you’d be more likely to see the words pancake-eating contest or girth or heft lumped together in the same sentence with Davis, who is listed in the Celtics’ postseason guide as weighing 295 pounds — a six-pound increase over what he supposedly weighed in the preseason, but a whole lot less than what he weighed when he came out of LSU three years ago. But the quintessential moment when you bore witness to exactly what Rivers was speaking of, foot speed, came early in the third quarter, just before Miami coach Erik Spoelstra appeared to be setting some kind of a postseason record for timeouts taken purely out of frustration. After Kendrick Perkins blocked a drive by Carlos Arroyo, the fleet-footed fellow who used to resemble a lumbering lump of lard barreled the other way down the court as Boston got out on the break. Receiving a pass with a full head of steam, all defender Michael Beasley could do was foul Davis, who went to the line and knocked down one of his nine made free throws. One possession later, Davis danced deftly to his left rather than toward the basket when the Heat doubled Rajon Rondo on a pick-and-roll, then received Rondo’s pass and buried a 20-footer. Timeout, Spoelstra.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “If the Celtics were trying to keep Kevin Garnett’s replacement a surprise before Game 2, they did a terrible job. Coach Doc Rivers confirmed in his pregame chat with the media that Glen Davis would draw the start, citing his quicker feet that could help combat Miami’s Dwyane Wade in the pick-and-roll. ‘I just think he moves his feet better [than Rasheed Wallace],’ said Rivers. ‘Wade alone was involved in 36 pick-and-rolls [in Game 1], so we think he’ll be involved in 36 more — at least — so we needed a quicker big. If Rasheed and [Kendrick Perkins] were involved in all those pick-and-rolls, that would be tough. You want one or the other on the floor.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “No, no it’s not. It’s a way more unfortunate time than that. It’s reality-check time. It’s come-to-your-senses time. It’s closer-than-ever-to-free-agency time. The Miami Heat had every reason to convince itself it was ready for a Game 2 bounce-back. Every reason to believe that the fourth quarter in Game 1 was a mirage, nothing that ever would show up again in this series against a supposedly older, less-athletic, ready-for-bed Celtics team that already was playing without its suspended intimidator, Kevin Garnett. What the Heat proved in Tuesday’s embarrassment of a Game 2 loss — an all-timer when it comes to playoff losses — was that Game 1 might have been as close as this team is going to get to these Celtics.

John Schuhmann, NBA.com – “After Game 1, even tough they fell apart in the second half, there was a feeling among the Heat players and staff that they definitely had the ability to beat the Celtics. They had played Boston close in all three regular season games and were up 14 early in the third quarter on Saturday. They’re probably not feeling so confident after Game 2, as the Celtics turned in a postseason performance unseen around here since Game 6 of the 2008 Finals. Boston dominated both ends of the floor, Miami looked like a lottery team, and Kevin Garnett’s absence didn’t matter one bit. The second half of Game 1, when Miami scored just 15 points over the final 19 ½ minutes, clearly carried over in Game 2. The key stretch on Tuesday came in the second quarter, after the Heat took a 29-25 lead. Over the next eight minutes, the Celtics held the Heat scoreless on 13 straight possessions, resulting in a 21-0 run. There was a similar stretch in the third, and this one quickly became a blowout. When this season started, Doc Rivers challenged his team to one day be referred to as the best defensive team ever. And they’re finally looking something like it.”

Dave Hyde, Miami Sun Sentinel – “The Heat can tell themselves this series isn’t over. They can say it officially hasn’t started since neither team has lost at home. They can preach how with more film work and better shooting they’ll recapture their late-season momentum and find the formula to kick Boston out of this playoff series. But is anyone listening after Tuesday’s 106-77 loss in Game 2? Boston played without its best defensive force in Kevin Garnett, held the Heat to another 10-point quarter and reminded everyone about the essential problem in this one-man Heat team: the other four players. Man, they were awful. All of them. Whatever four were out there.”

Couper Moorhead, NBA.com – “Once one of the top rebounding teams in the league, the Celtics suffered the greatest fall in rebounding stats of any squad, dropping to 13th and 29th in offensive and defensive rebounding percentages, respectively. For whatever reason, the Celtics shook their standings in those categories — though this can rationally be explained by them finally having a cohesive effort in the area — and allowed a mere six offensive ballboards, two off Boston’s season low, with a total rebounding margin of 50-33. ‘It was our number one focus going into the game tonight, that we had to be dominant — not good — we had to have a dominant effort on the glass,’ Rivers said. It’s always premature to determine the fate of a series after two games, before one team has even had a chance to play at home. But Tuesday night, the Heat were so thoroughly beaten by the Celtics, so clearly exposed for being a one-man team, that’s its tough to give them much of a chance barring some incredible individual adjustments. That is, as long as Boston’s recent propensity for sustaining elite-level play holds strong. ‘We can’t focus on what the series is right now,’ Rivers said. ‘We haven’t been good at that. We have not been. It will be a good test for us.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘We’re trying our best to stop Wade, it just hasn’t been working out very well,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘But we absolutely have had a focus on everyone else. Our theory always is that the great players are going to be great. We try to make them shoot a poor percentage — we’ve been unsuccessful in that part, but we can’t let everybody else beat us as well. So we haven’t had an adjustment as far as our game plan, but we have focused on everyone else. We’ve had a lot of focus on Wade, too, but what we don’t want to do is be mesmerized by him and letting everybody else get off.’ You can’t argue with the results. Miami scored 47 points over the final three quarters of an 85-76 loss to Boston in Game 1, then totaled a mere 37 points midway through the third quarter of Game 2. Go ahead, dust off those comparisons to the 1985 Bears that were being tossed around like footballs at the beginning of the 2009-10 season. Heck, Boston’s defense wasn’t even this good at that point. ‘I think we were all on the same page [Tuesday],’ said Kendrick Perkins. ‘Guys were helping out and we did a great job on Dwyane Wade for a little bit. He still had [29] points, but we took care of the others.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Nineteen of Wade’s points came after the Celts were ahead by 32. After providing an outside complement to Glen Davis in the second period when the C’s were taking the upper hand, Allen scored 11 when the margin was going from 16 to fuggedaboudit in the third. That’s when Wade pulled up in transition and threw in a 3-pointer that was so meaningless it got no reaction from the Heat. Wade just seemed to sigh and go back to the end of the floor where Allen continued to put the hammer down with six more points. His makes were almost icing, because he was accomplishing so much just by leading Wade through a forest of picks. ‘Since Kevin wasn’t in there, they didn’t want to double on the post,’ Allen said. ‘D-Wade was chasing more than he had to chase in Game 1. There was one time where I had gone a couple of times back and forth. He chased me, but when he got back down on his offensive side he kind of caught his breath. He was sitting down there catching his breath. So whatever we do, just keep him moving so he doesn’t have as much energy on the offensive end. That’s what we’ve got to continue to do. Sometimes I’m just as tired,’ Allen added, ‘but the difference is I have other guys on the team that are going to take shots and make big plays for us. And he’s the guy that they really rely on 80-90 percent of the time.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “‘It became about a lack of mental toughness again for us and we collapsed,’ Spoelstra said. ‘They just dominated us in every facet of the game. It was a very embarrassing game and now the next step for us is that mental toughness, that mental stability.’ Things fell apart for the Heat in the second quarter, when an 8:03 scoring drought turned a 29-25 lead into a 46-29 deficit. ‘They really got into a groove on the offensive end,’ Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ‘Defensively, we (stunk). The crowd got into it and they kept rolling. You could feel it leaving and going fast. That’s not a good feeling.’ Though Spoelstra was upset with the loss, he was careful to keep things in perspective. The Heat are down, but the series heads to Miami for Game 3 Friday. ‘This was an embarrassing loss, but it is one loss,’ Spoelstra said. ‘It is not four losses and what we control right now is getting our minds right and taking care of the most important game on Friday night.’”

Peter May, ESPNBoston – “He then went shot-less in the first quarter of Game 2, content to observe the Celtics’ Smashmouth Game Plan being exercised to near perfection by Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins. But Doc Rivers knew something had to change. “We had to get Ray some shots,” he told anyone who would listen. Allen’s thoughts at that point? ‘I’m 100 percent. I haven’t missed,’ he said. Classic Ray. Allen did get some shots in the second quarter, but the third quarter was the game-changing eruption. Celtics’ fans were treated to Vintage Allen, except that vintage in this case is the here and now for the still sweet-shooting 34-year-old. He took eight shots and made six of them. Six of the eight shots were 3-pointers and five of those found the mark. He had 17 in the quarter, 12 of them (four 3-pointers) coming in a span of 2 minutes, 49 seconds. By the time Allen was through, so were the Heat. The fifth Allen trey of the quarter pushed the lead to a stunning 33 points with 14 minutes left — and the Celtics had more than survived the absence of Kevin Garnett, not to mention the annoying ramblings of Quentin Richardson. They won easily, 106-77, and lead the series 2-0.”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “The mix-up resulted in a turnover, Pierce catching Allen’s pass, then looking down to see his heel over the sideline within a few feet of official Marc Davis. Pierce did not bother to wait for the whistle, simply flipping the ball to Davis and getting back on defense. ‘I did not want to shoot,’ Allen said of the sequence. ‘But I was trying to focus on making the extra pass. I know a lot of people want to see me shoot it but I like to see Paul shoot it, as well. Any time we can create a great rhythm, where we’re over-unselfish, it does bode well for us as a team.’ Pierce and nearly everyone in the Garden expected Allen to attempt the transition shot. In fact, Pierce talked afterward about ‘being a spectator, just watching Ray knock down shots,’ the classic ball-watching habit that is difficult to avoid when a teammate is shooting so well. ‘He was [expecting the shot],’ Allen said. ‘He was stepping out of bounds. We always say, sometimes with [Rajon] Rondo, you don’t know. Just be ready, he might look that way and throw it to you, so you kind of have to be ready. And, once I went up, I should have took the shot. But I knew Paul, once his guy came to me, he was open. Early in games, I’ve always thought that taking the easy shot, the uncontested shot, is the best shot. We have so much talent, so when we move that ball early, we always get open looks.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics guard Tony Allen didn’t produce the sort of offense he did in Game 1, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy Game 2 just as much. Allen might have been the most excited person in the building as Boston embarked on the 44-8 run. With every 3-pointer splashed by Ray Allen, Tony Allen popped to his feet and looked like he was going to come out of his skin. Numerous times he pumped up the crowd, imploring fans to get on their feet (not that they weren’t obliging already). While waiting to check in, Boston enjoyed a fastbreak and Tony Allen nearly wandered into the Miami bench (a dangerous zone, just ask Kevin Garnett) while following the play down the sideline. Tony Allen finished with 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist over 17 minutes. He struggled to keep Dwyane Wade quiet at times, particularly late in the third quarter, but his energy seemed contagious for Boston. ‘We had a tough practice [Monday] and I think it carried over,’ said Tony Allen. ‘The guys was very talkative in practice and they were very talkative [Tuesday], too.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Miami Heat forward Quentin Richardson has had time to reflect on his actions in Game One and the comments that followed, which included a reference to Garnett and Paul Pierce as ‘actresses.’ He didn’t bite his lip at the time, and the 6-foot-6 guard/forward wasn’t about to on the eve of Game Two. ‘I stand by what I said. That was game One,’ Richardson told Comcast SportsNet’s Carolyn Manno. ‘I’m going to leave everything in Game One.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “All of the missed baskets, missed rebounds, and overall missed opportunities piled up for Miami. ‘Mental breakdown,’ is how Beasley characterized the loss. ‘We let our missed shots and our missed rotations just take us out of the game mentally. We were almost fighting each other sometimes, and any time you get a team talking to each other like that and just out of it mentally, these type of games will happen.’ Even though not everyone on the Heat felt dissension on the court (“I don’t know if it was one another, I think we were just frustrated with the situation,” said Richardson), team leader Wade said the team must learn from any internal conflicts. ‘There’s always going to be disagreements when things aren’t going right,’ he said. ‘You can’t point too many fingers. You learn from it and you move on. In this league you can’t hold grudges because we all mess up. We all aren’t perfection. It’s just a time where frustration sets in. There is not going to be pats on the back when you’re losing by 30. Not at all. Guys are going to be willing to take criticism, that’s the only way you’re going to get better, if everyone’s willing to take criticism and understand their mistakes and try to move on and learn from it. Yeah, there were some things said to guys, but it’s been like that all year. We just bounce back from it. Normally you want to bounce back the next play and try to correct it, but in this case we have to bounce back the next game.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “That old Celtics mystique isn’t back in full stride, but they are taking steps toward regaining that confidence. The metamorphosis probably has occurred quicker that many players believed. Remember, Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich sliced the Boston defense for 69 points just a week ago. The Wizards slapped the Celtics into delusion 12 days ago. The Celtics have withstood their share of embarrassing stretches, but the regular season is the distant past. Teams don’t enter the playoffs with seeds tattooed on their shoulders. The reset button has been pushed. ‘It’s more mental off the court,’ veteran Michael Finley said of the renewed focus. ‘It’s all or nothing. Everything goes up another level. The coaching. The players, they take the scouting report more seriously. This team has a lot of players who have been around the block for a long time and they know the importance of this time.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “‘(Garnett) told me before the game to make sure that I do what I got to do and be physical, be ferocious and anything’s possible,’ Davis said. It wasn’t an accident that Davis used the words Garnett exclaimed after the C’s won the 2007-08 title. But before this team starts thinking such grand thoughts, Rivers was there to ground his troops. ‘We have to play hard, we have to have our focus and we have to understand all we’ve done is win two home games and they haven’t had the chance to play at home yet,’ Rivers said. ‘We just have to come out and focus on our job.’”

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

The C's didn't need Pierce to have a big game to steamroll the Heat.

With 10:10 remaining in the second quarter, Jermaine O’Neal dunked home a bucket to give the Miami Heat a 29-25 lead.  By the time Michael Beasley ended the ensuing drought with a jumper from the baseline, the economy had rebounded, Tiger Woods was settled down with his second wife, Erik Spoelstra had grandchildren, and my unborn son had graduated college.  When all was said and done, 8:04 had elapsed, the Celtics had scored 21 straight points, the four-point Celtics deficit had turned into a 46-29 lead and the Celtics’ 106-77 win was well in hand.  And the Celtics did it all with Kevin Garnett watching a television set in Danny Ainge’s living room.

As Ray Allen drained three-pointer after three-pointer and the game’s margin ballooned to as many as 33 points, the regular season’s pain was entirely alleviated.  Gone are the many months of shoddy effort and uninspired play.  Gone are head-scratching losses and all-too-close wins.  Gone are wide open layups for the opposition, and talk of the Celtics’ grave.

In one short week, the Celtics have gone from an old, washed-up team desperately in need of a life jacket to the playoffs’ most impressive squad.  Perhaps there was truth to the C’s claims that the regular season was nothing but an 82-game nuisance to be survived in as healthy a manner as possible.  All of a sudden, the Celtics possess the spunk and defensive tenacity that had evaded them for so long.

Ray Allen (25 points, 7-9 three-pointers) and the hot hand of Jesus put the game thoroughly out of hand, but it was the latest addition to the Celtics’ starting lineup, Glen Davis, who played a leading role.  Davis got off to an inauspicious start during which he made Jermaine O’Neal look like a young Bill Russell but, after O’Neal gobbled up Davis’s first four shots, Davis’s energy and nose for the bucket were contagious.  Davis finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, with his physical play and magnetic charge that constantly pulled him toward the basket leading to several layups and an 11-shot parade to the free throw line.

The Celtics played a beautiful symphony of all the right cords, but it was Rajon Rondo who led the orchestra.  Even while scoring only eight points and shooting just six times, Rondo pulled all the right strings in running his offense.  He finished with 12 assists compared to three turnovers, and directed the ball just where it needed to go.  When Ray was open, Rondo found him.  When Davis charged to an open spot in front of the basket, Rondo fed him.  As he has all season, Rondo made manning the point guard position look easy.  Even when almost entirely silent scoring-wise, Rondo has the ability to control an entire game.

As the Celtics clicked their heels and morphed into championship contenders in front of our very eyes, the Heat challenged to redefine offensive ineptitude.  For the second straight game, the Heat couldn’t even reach 80 points.  For the second straight game, the Heat had a 10-point quarter.  For the second straight game, they were held to less than 40% shooting.  Only a scoring explosion from Dwyane Wade (29 points), after the game was — for all intents and purposes — already over, kept Miami from a truly abysmal offensive output.

The series heads back to Miami for Game Three on Friday.  Kevin Garnett will be back and so, it seems, is Celtic Pride.

*****

Game Notes:

• Kendrick Perkins had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and a plus/minus to almost equal his jersey number: +41.
• Paul Pierce scored only 13 points, but still easily got the best of his matchup with Quentin Richardson.  Richardson had only 5 points, shot 2-7 from the floor, and had a -33 plus/minus.
• Michael Beasley, who was lauded before the game as a player who could potentially have a big game, scored only 13 points on 14 shots.
• Jermaine O’Neal shot 1-10, as he continues to challenge for the title, “World’s Greatest Bricklayer.”

If you want a great motivational speech that will inspire you to cheer your rump off tonight, click here.  If you want some pictures of Boston’s Public Enemy #1, click here.  If you want my thoughts on tonight’s game, read on.

Pierce might be out for blood tonight. Quentin Richardson blood, that is.

Players will downplay its importance.  In fact, they already have.  “They have homecourt advantage,” Dwyane Wade said, “and so we have nothing to lose in these [first two] games. These are free games for us.”  But just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a free playoff game.

Make no mistake about it: Game Two is a huge game, for both the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.

Should the Celtics win, they will take a commanding 2-0 lead back to Miami, raise their own confidence level that was undoubtedly shaken during the past four months, and send a memo to the rest of the NBA: Guys, we ain’t done yet. Building on a masterful second half in Game One, a Game Two win without Kevin Garnett would serve notice that the Celtics aren’t the same regular season pushovers anymore.  That, and they’ll push the Heat to the verge of extinction.  (I would say they’d also shut Quentin Richardson up, but he doesn’t seem to be discouraged by losses.  Even really, really, really big ones.) Wade says the first two games are free games, but the Heat are going to have to win one the road at some point in the series, right?  If they can’t do it while Kevin Garnett is sitting in Danny Ainge’s living room, it’s likely that they’ll never be able to do it.

Lose, though, and the Celtics open the door to allowing Dwyane Wade to steal the series from right under their noses.  Lose tonight, even though it’s without Garnett, and all the momentum gained by finally reverting to normal on Saturday night is gone.  Lose tonight, and Miami goes home to South Beach thinking it can win this thing.  Lose tonight, and the Celtics could be fishing within a week or so.

Even without their leader, the Celtics have enough to take down the Heat.  They’ve even proven it this year.  The Celtics already beat Miami back in January without Garnett, using Rajon Rondo’s buzzer-beating alley-oop to send the game into overtime and unseal the stranglehold of defeat.  Dwyane Wade said of playing Boston without #5, “I’m not going to say easier. This is a good defensive team no matter who’s in the game. KG didn’t play all 48 minutes the other night, so with KG being out it brings a different game, a different style — it doesn’t make it easier.”

Despite Wade’s claims, the Celtics are a far better team when Kevin Garnett is on the floor. “In the first game a lot of our open shots came off Kevin being involved in the play,” Rivers said. “That’s my biggest concern. It’s not a high-scoring offensive game to start with, it loses us 18 points, but more importantly it loses all the picks, all the post-ups, all the attention that he got where they had to overload and we lose that. That’s big.”  Then, there’s Garnett’s defensive presence.  Plus, umm, there’s that whole thing about Garnett’s replacements: Neither Rasheed Wallace nor Glen Davis has been reliable this season.  Both have had their times, but let’s face it… they’ve got issues.  Davis gets his shot hammered like it’s a pinata.  Wallace is shooting with the accuracy of Teen Wolf… now that Michael J. Fox has Parkinson’s Disease. Neither has consistently put together good games.

While Wallace and Davis have a lot of deficiencies, the Celtics’ reliance on them tonight should hardly lead to a Heat blowout.  After all, it’s not like either Carlos Arroyo or Joel Anthony is a candidate to light the Garden nets on fire.  The Heat are a one-man team whose one star occasionally gets help from a few other (flawed) teammates.  Even without Garnett, the Celtics are deeper and more talented than their foes.  They’re also more experienced.

But the jury is still out on whether they’re hungrier.  Game One was won with a return to the basics: boxing out, help defense, and head-whipping ball movement all made a revitalizing comeback in the second half as Boston turned on the after-burners and left Miami in the dust. Game One was won because, when it game down to winning time, Boston simply wanted it more.

Can the Celtics continue to maintain effort and energy in Game Two, even without Garnett?  Even as the Heat scrap to even the series, with the added motivation of Garnett-Gate?  Miami is going to throw a haymaker tonight, but will the Celtics be able to counter it?

The series, and thus the season, might depend on it.

Richardson's got it all wrong.

All it takes to know Quentin Richardson and Paul Pierce have some beef is to watch them play basketball once.  The two have battled for years with the ferocity of a pouncing tiger, and go a long way back.  Marc Spears reported that Pierce once hosted Richardson on a recruiting visit at the University of Kansas, so they’ve known each other at least since Pierce was in college and Richardson was still in high school.

When the Celtics first added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Richardson said, “We’re not in awe of them. They ain’t won no championships. They got a good record right now, but that don’t matter.”  After receiving a 104-59 choke slam, Richardson stayed behind his own words.  “I’m a competitive athlete,” he said. “I’m not about to be afraid of anyone because they have three great players. Because they have Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, are we supposed to crawl into a corner and say we’re afraid to play them? Go ask the other 29 teams and you show me a player that says he’s afraid to go play them. I’ve never heard of that.”

But those comments only scratched the surface of the hatred.  Richardson says now, “I don’t like them, and they know it,” and that dislike has been evident for a long time.  Two seasons ago, a couple months after Q’s “I’m not afraid of them” comments, Richardson and Pierce were ejected from a game for excessively jawing at each other.  As Richardson waited to leave the court he pointed at Pierce, as if to challenge Pierce to a fight in the hallway.  Even after his team’s 109-93 victory, Doc Rivers was disappointed in the constant chatter. “It wasn’t just Paul. It was five of us. All of us running our mouths instead of playing basketball,” he said. “You don’t need to run your mouth. I wasn’t happy with that. We deserved the techs. We deserved the ejections. We deserved everything we got and we’re very lucky to win the game. [If] we’re playing a team that’s playing terrific, you get caught up in that (junk) and you lose the game.”

So why don’t the two like each other?  Why does there always seem to be some type of altercation every time they play?  Why can’t they just play basketball?

Gary Washburn reports that there are rumors that Richardson challenged Pierce to a fight within the last few years and Pierce declined.  That would explain Richardson’s comments: “All I will say is people act one way in NBA environments where things can be restrained and you’re going to be penalized, fined and da-da-da-da-da-da,” Richardson told Yahoo!’s Marc Spears. “Stuff is going to come to a screeching halt as soon as it happens anyway. And you know, you put some people in different environments, they want to do the same thing. And those two pretty much know that. They’ve been in different environments and didn’t act the same way. You know, that’s why I call them actresses.”

But, if Washburn’s rumors are true, why is Quentin Richardson trying to fight Paul Pierce… or worse, as his words might suggest?  Probably because of something said while the two were playing basketball.  Even so, Richardson should know better.  Richardson has had two brothers killed in Chicago by street violence, so he should know the perils of escalating confrontation.  Still, he complains that Pierce isn’t man enough to stick up to him off the court.  Is it a respect thing?  A “street cred” thing?  Shouldn’t Richardson, and everybody else in the NBA, be above street cred?  They are, after all, millionaires.

Washburn put it nicely:

There’s no question that some professional athletes relish their tough-guy reputations off the court. Society has increasingly celebrated bad boys and lauded celebrities with tarnished images. There are those NBA players who choose to emphasize their toughness with body art, loud screams after dunks, or never walking away from confrontation.

Players such as Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson have meticulously learned to harness that anger into more productive play and fewer altercations. That’s a byproduct of maturity. But it’s rather sad — although great copy for newspapers — when a player has to question the manhood of another because he won’t elevate their dispute into a physical confrontation.

Pierce is 32 years old and earning $19.7 million this season. The only fighting he needs to do at this point in his career is on “Don King Boxing’’ on his Wii. Same with Garnett.

Their reputations won’t benefit one bit from taking Richardson’s words personally. Some challenges need to be ignored. This is one of them.

In that same Washburn article, Ray Allen tried to explain the emotions that tend to boil over during a game.  “A lot of guys play with emotion. That’s what I think flares up.”

Guys playing with emotion and tempers flaring would be fine, if it were confined to the basketball court.  Even when NBA fights get bad, the worst that normally happens is a bruise or broken bone and maybe a suspension or fine.  When the fights spill over beyond the court, though, the risk of danger increases ten-fold.  Pierce knows first-hand what can happen when altercations arise off the basketball court; in 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck and back while at a nightclub, to within a few inches of his life.  Though Pierce was back to playing basketball only three days after the stabbing, the nightclub altercation could have resulted in death.

Richardson’s continued efforts to provoke Pierce into a fight off the court speak to a far darker reality than a simple elbow thrown during a basketball game.  Richardson should know the dangers of such calls for violence can end badly; his buried brothers should have taught him as much.  Yet he continues to suggest that Pierce and Garnett lack manhood because they don’t back up their on-court trash-talk with violence away from the hardwood.

It is a sad state of society that people continue to misuse the term “manhood” to describe someone unafraid of a meaningless confrontation.  Stepping away from a fight, deflating the hostility in a situation, THAT is what should be valued.  People should be lauded for being peaceful, not berated.  Are there times to fight?  Yes, but fight when you have been served a severe injustice.  Fight when your son’s life is on the line, or your wife has been threatened.  Don’t fight because you have some petty difference with somebody, or because you feel your “pride” has been challenged; fights off the court can lead to far worse fates than a one-game suspension.

I understand the urge to fight, the macho desire to prove your toughness and dominance.  I’ve even been in fights before and, while I like to think I’ve finally outgrown that stage in my life, I realize the societal pulls that influence people — and especially males — to use violence to solve our problems and prove our manhood. Softness is discouraged, frowned upon, cause for embarrassment.  I get it.

Toughness on a basketball court, the unwillingness to back down, can help teams win games.  I value a player who gives hard fouls, throws his body around, and backs down from nobody.  Players like that win games.  Championships, even.  In basketball, accepting a challenge is almost always a good thing.

But there is a time to grow up, and a time to realize that a real man isn’t measured by how many fights he wins or how many challenges he accepts, but by how he carries himself.  In life, away from basketball hoops, some challenges should be turned away.  There is no need for two millionaires to duke it out, all over some immature beef that probably stems from a game of basketball. Quentin Richardson hasn’t learned that yet.

So while Kevin Garnett was the only player to receive a suspension for his part in Saturday night’s scuffle — and, don’t get me wrong, he deserved the suspension — it’s  Richardson who’s headed for real trouble if his attitude doesn’t change.

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.

Suspended? Damn it.

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald - “If Garnett’s suspension provided one unintended positive, it was a vastly improved second unit in yesterday’s practice. ‘I knew the second-team defense was a mother today,’ Rivers said. ‘To the point I told (Garnett) to sit down in some parts of practice. I needed him to go away so we could get some offensive confidence. We were laughing how good the defense on the second unit was today until we realized Kevin was on the second unit. That’s how good he is.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Losing Garnett, though, presents problems on both ends. In the 11 regular-season games Garnett missed, the Celtics allowed an average of 99.7 points. ‘The last time Kevin was out, scoring went up for the other team drastically,’ Rivers said. ‘We can’t have that happen. They’re too good of an offensive team, Miami. If you allow them to score points with the way they play defense, then we’re in trouble. We have to somehow be as good defensively for one game, just without Kevin.’ Much of what the Celtics do offensively goes through Garnett. Once he’s off the floor, the Heat don’t have to stress as much about monitoring him. ‘That’s my biggest concern,’ Rivers said. ‘It was not a high-scoring, offensive game to start with. You lose [Garnett’s] 15 points. But more importantly you lose all the picks, all the post-ups where they had to trap, all the attention that he got where they had to overload. That’s taken out and that’s big, so we’re going to have to try to find points somewhere.’”

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “But the Heat plan to concentrate more on direct attacks to the basket, even when Garnett returns. ‘I think we need to be that way whether he’s playing or not,’ Richardson said. ‘They’ve still got some big guys: Rasheed [Wallace], [Kendrick] Perkins, and [Glen] Davis. Whether [Garnett’s] going to be there or not — obviously, he’s their difference-maker and things like that — we need to play the way we need to play [tonight], even after [tonight]. He’ll be back and we’ll need to be aggressive.’ Miami’s Dwyane Wade was not surprised by Garnett’s suspension. Asked if the Heat would have an easier time against the Celtics in Garnett’s absence, Wade said: ‘I’m not going to say easier. This is a good defensive team no matter who’s in the game. KG didn’t play all 48 minutes the other night, so with KG being out it brings a different game, a different style — it doesn’t make it easier. It’s unfortunate it happened. But we’re moving on with the game plan, the same way we do no matter who’s playing. It’s going to be a tough game for both teams. We understand this is a tough team. I know last year he didn’t play every game and we only beat them once. It’s not about one guy on this team — that’s why they’re a good team and they’ve won a championship. It’s because it’s more guys who always step up.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “‘In the first game a lot of our open shots came off Kevin being involved in the play,’ Rivers said. ‘That’s my biggest concern. It’s not a high-scoring offensive game to start with, it loses us 18 points, but more importantly it loses all the picks, all the post-ups, all the attention that he got where they had to overload and we lose that. That’s big.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “But there is the question of who will take the place of the suspended forward. The options are Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis, though Celtics coach Doc Rivers wasn’t tipping his hand after yesterday’s practice. ‘They’re completely different players,’ Rivers said. ‘Sheed gives us more size, he gives us a better post player and he spreads the floor. Baby gives you energy, Baby moves his feet a little bit better on the (Michael) Beasley matchup. They’re just so completely different, that’s what makes the decision so difficult. It would be easy if they were similar. But they’re not, so it’s tougher.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Rajon Rondo said, ‘I think Baby’s starting, but we’ve just got to get the job done. Baby’s ready to play, Rasheed’s ready to play, so is Shelden [Williams].’ Wallace had one of his best night’s this season, a 16-point nine-rebound fill-in job for Garnett who sat out the Celtics 112-106 win over the Heat Jan. 6 with a hyperextended right knee. ‘We’re all interchangeable,’ Davis said. ‘I’ve been lucky to have experience in the playoffs at a starting position. Sheed’s been blessed enough to be in this league successful at the power forward position. So any one of us can really start. It all depends on how the coach wants it.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “‘It don’t matter,’ Wallace said. ‘As long as I’m in there in that fourth quarter. I don’t care if I start. I don’t care if Doc brings me off the bench.’ Whoever gets the start will have their hands full with Beasley. While the second-year forward was a non-factor (six points, eight rebounds) in Boston’s 85-76 Game One win, the C’s anticipate Miami will try to get him more involved in Game Two. ‘I’m sure they’ll go to Michael Beasley more,’ Rivers said. ‘That’ll be an obvious adjustment without Kevin. You take Kevin off the floor, usually the guy he was guarding is the guy who gets the ball more. And Michael Beasley is a terrific offensive player.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “The player who stands, at least on paper, to benefit most from Garnett’s suspension is second-year power forward Michael Beasley. As the team’s second leading scorer, Beasley is counted on as Wade’s right hand man. But he’s had a maddeningly inconsistent season; a trend that continued in Game One, where Beasley only scored six points in 32 minutes. ‘I’m gonna be more aggressive, point blank,’ Beasley said. ‘I thought that if I had been more aggressive, we’d have had a better chance of winning the game. I’m not gonna force anything, or try to overdo myself, but I’m gonna be a more aggressive and try to put some pressure on the rim.’ Even more so without Garnett chasing him around? ‘Honestly, I had my mind made up before KG was out,’ Beasley said. ‘With or without KG — Game Three, Game Four — I’m gonna be aggressive. My game’s not gonna change at all.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Though he clearly seemed ready to react again in such circumstances, KG said the right things when asked what lesson he would take away from the incident. ‘To always keep a cool head and always understand that a cool head always prevails,’ he said. ‘Period, point-blank. You know, you try to pull something out of it and then apply it. I’m sure I will do just that.’ And he believes the Celts will succeed in his absence tonight. ‘I’m sure everybody has to look at themselves and say what they’re going to bring to this game,’ he said. ‘It was a lot of fire today, a lot of energy in the building. I guess everybody’s pretty much ready for Game 2. I have a lot of faith in how we prepare, how we practice. When you see our practices, you see how hard we go. Especially with the energy we had today, it gives me like a foresight or whatever to Game 2. I’m looking forward to see how we play.’”

Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo! Sports – “K.G. needs help, now. He’s still a borderline All-Star, per-minute. He’s still the biggest reason why Boston was ranked in the top three in defensive efficiency for most of the season. He can still hit the jumper, he can still crash the boards and he can still cover big stretches of the court in a way that would make a 23-year-old colt shake his head in wonder. But he’s nowhere near the K.G. we saw dominate this league in 2003-04 or dominate defensively in 2007-08. And he’s the first person to see this because he’s got a first-hand glance at just how far away that rim is compared to where it used to be when he tried to jump real high. Whether he wants to talk about it or not, yeah, K.G. knows. Cornered by his own increasing frailties, Garnett lashes out. He didn’t need to throw that elbow. He didn’t need to have Paul Pierce’s(notes) back. He doesn’t need any of this, but he presses on. And he loses more and more fans — hell, more and more admirers in the process.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Collectively these are the things that win basketball games. They also were the things that weren’t in evidence consistently this season when the Celtics repeatedly were hitting the snooze button on the green alarm clock. ‘Those are always big plays,’ Doc Rivers said. ‘It’s not just the scoring plays or the ones everyone can see. To me, all that comes down to effort and playing hard and having great focus. If you’re focused in a game, you’re always cutting and running hard. You see an open area, and you cut. That’s focus and effort. ‘We were on that every day during the season,’ added the Celtics coach, who left out the “to no avail” part. ‘Every day. We did that a lot in Game 1, and if we can continue to do that, we’re going to be tough. And if we don’t do that, we’re beatable.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Miami point guard Carlos Arroyo said Allen is right near the top of concerns for the Heat in this playoff series. ‘He’s a big key to what they do,’ Arroyo said. ‘Him coming off screens, it’s very tough. He makes it difficult for any defense. He’s a player that you have to respect his shooting and his ability to put it on the floor and make things happen.’ Richardson agreed. ‘That’s somebody that you look up to in this league,’ Richardson said. ‘And see as an example of what you need to do to keep going strong. Because he’s definitely not slowed down running off all those screens and people trying to chase him, and still gets up and dunks the ball.’ And as far as the talk about Allen being too old, Richardson chuckled, ‘I don’t know if any of that applies to him, as far as the aging and stuff like that. He’s pretty ageless right now, to me.’”

Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald – “Richardson, who turned 30 last week, isn’t sure if those experiences made him any tougher. Maybe more insightful. ‘It just puts everything in perspective,’ he said. You would think a player with this much grit, who’s held in such high esteem by teammates, was made for the playoffs. He might be, but in his 10 years in the league, this is just his second trip. His only previous one was a lengthy, 15-game postseason stay with the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns. Maybe that’s why Richardson didn’t take to Pierce’s dramatics or Kevin Garnett’s antics very well in Game 1. All that pent-up competitiveness had to be released. The truth is, Richardson has all the characteristics of a winning teammate. He won a starting job that wasn’t necessarily his to win. He helped make this Heat team one of the franchise’s best in terms of internal chemistry. He’s the team’s most consistent perimeter defender, and he happens to contribute actual numbers. ‘My whole thing is I know that I’m a winner,’ Richardson said. ‘And I know in the NBA it’s a league where there could only be one champion, but I never lost that about myself, that I’m a winner and I play with a winning attitude.’”

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