The Celtics might take a little comfort in the fact they had trouble in the first round last year. But they know deep down they are in dangerous territory as they go deep into an opening series with a different roster.
"No, different circumstances," coach Doc Rivers said when asked if the Celts could lean on last year as they battle the Bulls. "I thought as a whole we hadn't been tested, and we didn't handle that test early on. And we grew as it went on. Maybe we'll do some growing again this year in that regard. "(But) last year if Baby (Glen Davis) was struggling then you could throw Leon (Powe) in, and if Leon was struggling you could throw Baby in. The difference this year is even with Perk (Kendrick Perkins), we also had Kevin (Garnett) and P.J. (Brown) on the floor."
To the Celtics' way of thinking, they should still have cruised through this series. The problem, they say, is focus.
And they know that playing extra games will hurt them more this season.
"For sure," said Perkins. "When you have guys playing 40-plus minutes, you've got to make sure every possession counts and finish it off. We can't be going into double-overtime games. You can see it on (Rajon) Rondo; his energy level goes down, which you have to expect in a game that long with the way he goes after it. We've got to make sure we handle business.
"I just feel like guys can't look ahead," Perkins went on. "You've got to take it one game at a time and do your job. You have to take each game like it's your last. I think sometimes we slip up a little bit and get comfortable with a five-point lead. We can't do that. You can't be at all. It takes a great focus, man. It takes guys putting their time in. Whatever you put into your game, that's what you get out of it. If guys just think we're going to show up and win a game, that's not going to happen."
CELTICS 106, BULLS 104 (OT): Paul Pierce came back from a terribly slow start and the Celts came back from 10 points down with seven minutes left Tuesday night in Boston to take a 3-2 lead over the Bulls in their first-round series.
Pierce hit a jumper from the right side of the foul line with 10.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game and, after a Ben Gordon miss, send it into overtime.
The Celtic captain was then quiet until there was just 1:17 remaining in OT. His club was down a point when Pierce scored on three straight step-back jumpers from the same spot as his last regulation make.
"Yeah, I thought about doubling him a lot," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "But the problem is that the Celtics do such a good job and he fades away and he's 6-8 and it's his spot. We talked about coming with different players, but they've picked us apart a little bit with that on the glass. And he hits some tough fadeaway shots with hands in his face.
"That's what great players do. They make big plays. He's an All-Star player for a reason."
Pierce finished with 26 points.
"I think I had to step up," he said. "I mean, at this point in the series, I don't really feel like I've really had an imprint. I just think I had to do something."
