``Well, we made a run, so it wasn't a hard (decision),'' he said of sticking with Eddie House. ``You go with the best unit that's playing.''

Turning to his team as a whole, Rivers said, ``We're making up stuff on the floor on offense and defense.

``And if the coach doesn't trust his people to run his stuff,'' well, Rondo thinks there might be a reason for that.

``I don't feel that we trust each other right now on both ends of the floor,'' he said. ``We're not executing offensively. We're not getting in our sets. And against a good team like Orlando, you can't get away with it. Maybe against other teams that are below .500 you can get away with it, but not the defending Eastern Conference champs.''

For the record, Rondo voiced no displeasure with Rivers' decision to give him just the 43 ticks in the final frame.

``Yeah, I mean, whatever the team needs,'' he said. ``Eddie was doing his job. He missed some shots, but he was keeping the defense honest (and) he played solid on the defensive end. I'm not selfish. If we won, I would have been happy.

``This is how the game was going. That unit out there came back, and I didn't want to mess up the rhythm.''

Kendrick Perkins, owner of 14 foul-plagued minutes for the game - none of them in the last quarter - was similarly fine with the call from above, if not the calls of the officials.

``I mean, I wasn't into the game today,'' he said. ``I was taken out by the refs or whatever, a few calls or whatever. But Rasheed (Wallace) was playing well. He was rebounding, playing great defense. That's the thing with our team. Doc, he's the coach. He can go with any lineup he wants, and that's part of ubuntu - supporting each other.''

But the Celtics are not supporting each other well on the floor. The players have proven that the coaches' plan works, but they seem to be playing tired Basketball - both physically and mentally.

Interestingly enough, it was Rondo who tasered them out of their timidity two nights prior, getting them a win over the weak Warriors. Last night he had a devilish line with six points, six rebounds and six assists. He hit just three of his 11 shots.

Rivers, however, absolved him on the question of the point guard needing to get the team to execute.

``It's not on Rondo,'' he said. ``As a group we have to play better. But, listen, Rondo didn't play well today. He's been pretty good for the most part; he won the game for us the other night. So, no, it's just as a group. We are not functioning well as a group, all five on the floor.''

Paul Pierce extolled Rondo's virtues, but added, ``We're players. We're asked to go out on the court and the coaches are putting the players on the court. It's not our job to be saying put Rajon in the game. I mean, we're out there trying to win as a team.''

Right now, the Celtics are losing as a team. And even when they win, they're rarely playing as well as they know they can and should.

The best case they can make for themselves right now is the calendar, but even that one's getting old.

``It's going to take time,'' said Rondo. ``It's a long season. . . . We can't keep saying that. Sooner or later, we'll have to get it together.''

- sbulpett@bostonherald.com