As the Celtics' series with Chicago wore on, coach Doc Rivers actually shortened his bench. With three overtime games, that meant an extra work load for the regulars.
Asked how concerned he was with managing minutes, Rivers said, "Well, clearly I'm not managing minutes. I'm playing guys 50 minutes. But, listen, they're basketball players. That's what we do. You know? We get days off in between. Hell, we play all day. And that's our attitude. If we had to play guys 60 minutes, we'll do it. What else is there to do right now?" Paul Pierce has been fighting through nagging injuries and fatigue, but he backed up his boss.
"You've got to understand, when we grew up playing basketball, you may play like three or four games in one day," he said. "So to play these minutes (isn't difficult). What Doc is doing with us in the off days, he's saving our legs. I do a good job of getting my treatments, getting my rest and so, hey, at some point when you're in close games and it's the playoffs, it's mental and you don't really think about it."
The key, according to Rivers, is to avoid giving in to the fatigue.
"I mean, it does (get tough)," he said. "Yeah, but this is what we're in. There's just no way around it, and we can't make an excuse about it. That's what I tell our guys. I say, 'Hey, it is what it is. We're playing a lot of minutes.'
"We use the statement about victims all the time. You're only a victim if you act like one. And we just can't act like one right now."
BULLS 128, CELTICS 127 (3 OT): Ray Allen had 51 points, but the Celtics couldn't come up with enough at the end Thursday night in Chicago. The series now goes back to Boston for a seventh game Saturday night.
The Celtics came back from 11 down in the last quarter to lead by eight with 3:35 left. But they couldn't hold on as Brad Miller scored twice to force the NBA record fourth overtime of the series.
John Salmons got the equalizer at the end of the first extra period and Allen hit a trey to even it at the end of the second.
The Celtics then committed three of their 13 turnovers in the third overtime. The biggest was a Joakim Noah steal of Paul Pierce. Noah went in for a fast break and was fouled by Pierce. He hit the free throw to give the Bulls a lead they would never relinquish.
"We are supposed to be a defensive team," said Doc Rivers. "We've got to be better on defense. With an eight-point lead, if you are a good defensive team, you literally don't have to score again."
