The Celtics coach cast his vote in a surprising direction.

``I think they had the best summer of anybody with Blair, Jefferson and McDyess,'' he said before last night's game against the Spurs. ``I don't know if you can add three better players.''

Like everyone, of course, Rivers doesn't need much cause to wax poetic about his former team.

``They're playing real good Basketball,'' he said. ``On offense they're pushing the ball more. They're getting quicker shots, and defensively they're the same team, but the biggest change is their depth. They have a lot of players coming off the bench now.''

A lot of help, in other words, for Manu Ginobili and Michael Finley.

But the Celtics had the correct answer for such a deep opponent - a fast start. Just like two nights earlier in Charlotte, the Celtics pounced on the opposing starters to forge an early advantage.

The result was a 12-4 run over the first five minutes of play that included five straight points from Ray Allen and five consecutive - and quite uncharacteristic - turnovers by the Spurs.

The Celtics then finished off the quarter with a 7-1 run for a 25-15 lead, with the last basket coming on a huge assist from Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair.

Going for the rebound of a Brian Scalabrine miss, Blair mistakenly tipped the ball into his own basket for the Celtics' first 10-point lead of the game.

Marquis Daniels, closest to the basket at the time, was given credit for the basket.

Maintaining that 10-point edge in the second quarter would be another story, however.

As Rasheed Wallace shot 2-for-4 from the line in two straight trips, the Spurs out-scored the Celtics , 6-2, over the first three minutes, cutting the C's lead to 27-21.

Ray Allen hit from the baseline but Blair, trying hard to make amends for his inadvertent tip-in, scored his sixth straight point off a cut into the paint. Finley drove despite heavy pressure from Daniels, and the Celtics' lead fell to 29-25.

Eddie House's 3-pointer was merely an interruption. George Hill answered with two straight hoops, cutting the Celtic lead to three points, 32-29.

Kevin Garnett buried a 20-footer, but was answered when Tony Parker drove on Rondo. But Garnett assisted on a Kendrick Perkins three-point play, and Ray Allen hit two free throws for a 39-32 edge with 3:10 left.

The Celtics then uncorked their biggest run of the night - a 10-2 burst that included a pair of Perkins hoops off Rondo assists - before Manu Ginobili closed out the half with a 3-pointer that cut the Celtics' lead to 47-37.

Garnett led the C's balanced attack with 10 points and four rebounds, while Pierce and Perkins had nine points apiece, while Rondo had eight assists at the break.

- mrmurphy@bostonherald.com