And no matter their recent road troubles, losing five of their last six away from the Garden, home is where the wins are for the Celts. Heading into last night's run with the Rockets, they had won 13 straight on the parquet. Which is what made the result - an 89-85 loss to Houston - so hard to take.

Et tu, Garden?

``Tonight showed us it's not just the homecourt,'' Ray Allen said after his club slipped a half-game behind Cleveland, which routed Charlotte, in the Eastern Conference standings. ``There's things that we need to get back to doing, and you can't hide from the road because you're going to be on the road. And your home is not always going to solve your problems. It's just what we need to do as a team.''

What the Celtics needed to do was score a few more points. After collecting 31 in the first quarter, they produced just 54 in the final three. And in the fourth, your defending NBA champions recorded a mere 11. The Big Three combined to make 1-of-10 shots, not exactly large.

The C's shot 66.7 percent and had assists on nine of their 12 first-quarter buckets. They shot 34.6 percent the rest of the night.

Pierce was correct in saying, ``Right now our defense is just not getting the job done,'' but in five of their recent eight losses, the Celtics have scored in the 80s.

``Eleven points in the fourth quarter is not going to win a lot of games for you,'' coach Doc Rivers understated.

And if the Celtics want to wail about the schedule and circumstances, don't expect the Rockets to apologize for anything. Houston hasn't played at home since New Year's Eve and it came in on a back-to-back with three straight losses. And without the injured Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier.

But the Celtics had their chances. They led by three entering the last period and Gabe Pruitt (the kid looked good again with seven points and some tight defense) pushed the advantage to five with a couple of jumpers. But the locals graciously but foolishly opened the door by missing eight straight field goal attempts and turning over the ball once.

Houston retook the lead, but Rajon Rondo got free inside and Kevin Garnett found him with a nice pass for a layup as the Celts took an 85-84 edge with 1:34 left. But after each team failed on its next possession, Von Wafer stuck a trey from the right sideline with 43.8 seconds left.

Pierce (26 points) got a decent look at the other end, but his jumper didn't go down. And when Yao Ming (26 points, 10-for-13 shooting while opposing center Kendrick Perkins went scoreless in 23 minutes) converted Carl Landry's miss with 12.9 on the clock, the Celts were in need of a quick miracle.

Allen missed inside to dash that hope.

It was left to noted hoop mind Ron Artest, who got in a couple of good whacks on Pierce before fouling out, to deliver yet another blow to the Green.

``Yao Ming is the best center in the league surrounded by some good players,'' he said. ``But sometimes we forget that hard work is more important than talent. Last year Boston had hard work and talent. That's why they ran through everybody.''

Ouch.

The Celtics continue to say that all is calm, all is bright. But this has to be wearing on them, and with Cleveland next on the agenda tomorrow, a continuation of this type of play could lead to a severely injured psyche at the least.

``I think the confidence is still there,'' Pierce said. ``It's a long season and that's what we try to tell each other. We bend but we don't break. . . . Nobody's pointing the finger. It's a tough stretch, but we know what we are capable of.''

- sbulpett@bostonherald.com