Boston had won a club-record 19 straight games going into a four-game West Coast trip that started on Christmas Day, becoming the first NBA team ever to start 27-2. But after dropping their much-hyped NBA finals rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 25, the Celtics also lost at Golden State and Portland to finish their trip at 1-3.

They blew out Washington at home on Friday, but their problems on the road continued Sunday night, when they lost for the first time in nine meetings with New York, falling 100-88 at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics (29-6) have now lost four of six for the first time since their roster overhaul before last season.

"We've just got to come together," said Pierce, who had 31 points against the Knicks. "We talked about it after the game amongst the players, what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, and the good thing about this group, we're a strong group. It's just about getting through this period and we know we're a better team that the way we've been playing."

The Celtics' recent road woes have been profound. They've averaged 90.8 points over their last five games away from home, and their typically staunch defense let them down against the Knicks, as Boston allowed 100 points for just the eighth time this season.

"It was the way they scored. It was frustrating watching it happen," Allen said. "It was disappointing because we couldn't get a stop. They were scoring in ways that each time they scored it was somewhat letting the air out of the balloon, out of ourselves."

A matchup with the lowly Bobcats might seem likely to help Boston get back on track, but the Celtics have already lost to a pair of struggling teams lately in New York and Golden State.

While they've won four straight in Charlotte, including an 89-84 win on Nov. 29, three of the four games have been decided by single digits. They also lost 95-83 at home to the Bobcats last Jan. 9 during a similar midseason swoon when they dropped three of four.

The Bobcats (12-22) had lost three straight before beating the Bucks 102-92 on Saturday, as Gerald Wallace had 24 points and recent acquisition Boris Diaw added 21 along with seven assists and six rebounds. Charlotte had been on the short end of a 103-75 drubbing in Milwaukee the night before.

"It's tough to be consistent. It's tough to get the respect from everybody, the fans to ourselves to the media," said Diaw, who's averaging 19.0 points and shooting 62.9 percent in his last three games. "I think it's hard to convert from a team that was losing a lot of games to being a winning team. It's a long process."

Charlotte center Emeka Okafor is averaging 17.3 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last 12 games, with nine double-doubles. Okafor opened his career with eight double-doubles in his first nine games against Boston, but doesn't have any in the last five matchups - all since Garnett joined the Celtics.