"This was somewhat of a wakeup call," said Rasheed Wallace after the Celtics knocked off the decimated Golden State Warriors, 109-95, at the Garden. "We were thinking that we're the Celtics and they're (opponents) gonna lay down. They didn't. We've gotta make them. We have an awesome team on paper, but we've gotta prove it."

Yet for the first half against the Warriors that's exactly what they didn't do. Against a team that was playing seven players, plus one who's heading home for possible wrist surgery in the near future, the Celtics struggled to stay ahead, mostly by a couple or three points. And then the light bulb in their heads clicked on.

More than anything, it was light bulb in Rajon Rondo's head. After two sub-par games in which he managed a combined 14 points and 13 assists - mere pedestrian numbers for a $55 million man - followed by four points and two assists in the first half, Rondo got rolling. He rambled to the hoop and played his defense to the tune of 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in the third quarter alone. He finished at 18-7-12 and not only re-established himself, but perhaps his team, as well.

"That's classic Rondo," Wallace said.

If you're OK with labeling a fourth-year player as classic, go for it, but Rondo and the Celtics proved that they might be nothing without him. "I thought he changed the momentum of the game," said Kevin Garnett, one of six Celtics in double figures. "I thought he was a lot more solid than in the first half. He consolidated the ball, he was aggressive, he picked up his energy, started picking up the full court - like he just changed the whole momentum. I think he set the tone for the second half."

Truth be told, what appeared to be a rather phlegmatic Rondo appearance in the first half wasn't all his fault, but after the last two games it seemed like he simply wasn't stepping up his game once again. But Rondo was hit with two quick personals, which coach Doc Rivers acknowledged, saying the point guard wasn't able to get into much of a rhythm.

"He was out of sync," said the coach. "He never got that rhythm."

It would be nice to say, too, that his continuing woes at the free throw line, 1-for-4 in this game, contributed to his problems, but he did get it rolling once again.

There was also the fact that the Celtics needed just about a half to figure out the Warriors, a collection of really good players, all eight of them, all of whom can shoot, all of whom are pretty darned quick, too. The only weak link is fill-in center Mikki Moore, who flopped as a Celtic last season. He's the reason Kendrick Perkins was able to drop 15 points on the losers.

"It's a very unusual style," Garnett said. "That Nellie ball (coach Don Nelson) is something - something different."

It was incumbent upon Rondo, then, to make something happen, to get his team running again, which is exactly what he did, even if he refused to assess himself any personal credit. Rivers gave it to him, crediting his speed.

"They couldn't stay in front of him. It didn't matter if they switched. He was terrific."

Bottom line is that Rondo was more like Rondo and the Celtics were more like the Celtics once they got rolling.

"I wouldn't say (we were) different," Ray Allen said. "I would say more like ourselves. We hold ourselves to a higher standard because we feel we're a pretty good defensive team, but the communication, we just have to pick it back up and get better at talking on defense and just kind of having that chemistry again."

Wallace said the losses were a wakeup call. Garnett said, "Any loss wakes you up. You try to pull positives out of every negative. The teams that beat us beat us. Even though it wasn't pretty, and perfect, we're still a team in progress and all that, but a win's a win."

"I would love to be undefeated right now," said Allen. "We could be, but there's a lot of things we didn't do consistently. The losses definitely opened our eyes."

The Celtics might have a better handle on that Friday when the Magic come to town, but on this night, Rondo was an eye-opener in a much-needed win.

Reach Mike Fine at mikefine@ledger.com. Read more of his Celtics coverage in his On the Hardwood blog at PatriotLedger.com/sports