Rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker weren't even in uniform and free agent big man Patrick O'Bryant didn't see the court.

Tony Allen, Posey's supposed replacement, struggled early in the game but made up for his mistakes with a few crucial second-half baskets and also did a surprisingly solid job defensively on King James.

"He was terrific," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Allen. "He was terrific."

I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but Allen made certain that Celtics fans weren't even entertaining thoughts of the loss of Posey.

When Pierce left the new Garden on Tuesday night, he was all smiles — and for good reason.

He had a shiny, new piece of hardware — just 10 more and he'll catch up to Bill Russell — and a victory to start off the title defense.

"You don't want to have a ring ceremony and leave with a loss," Pierce said. "That takes all the air out of it."

Just ask the Miami Heat. Just a couple years ago, they felt it after an embarrassing 42-point loss to the Chicago Bulls in the season opener.