Boston 88, Atlanta 86 (Overtime)

[recap] [box score]

Tuesday night's win in Miami told us something about this Celtics team's confidence and ability to play at a high level. Wednesday night's triumph over Atlanta back in Boston told us something about this Celtics team's guts.

After that incredible offensive display on South Beach, after all those minutes in a highly intense game, most people would have given the Cs a free pass tonight against the Hawks. But I liked something that Tommy Heinsohn said during the broadcast -- that if you lose this one, you undo all the good work you did the night before. So the Celtics, instead of resting their legs or resting on their laurels or both, came out and fought for this win every bit as hard as they had fought for the one the night before.

It wasn't pretty. The whole night, Boston seemed a half-step behind, physically or mentally. They committed 19 turnovers, a full handful of which were caused by a simple lack of concentration. Particularly in the second half, you could see our legs getting tired, and the results: a slower pace, and flat jump shots left short. But Boston dug deep and never gave up on the defensive end, getting just enough stops to pull out a big win.

Some notes:
* Ray Allen sat out with soreness in his ankle, the same one that kept him out earlier. I think the idea here is that Doc wants to make sure that Ray's healthy for the playoffs, and not that Ray suffered some kind of setback, but it's a little disconcerting that he apparently hasn't fully healed.

* The Celtics controlled the glass, outrebounding the Hawks 56-39 and grabbing 15 offensive boards. I always thought of the Hawks as a tough team to keep off the glass, but with Al Horford out, they really don't go to the boards that well. The Boston bigs rebounded well, but I thought a big key was the small guys rebounding down on the defensive glass. Rajon R-ndo had ten boards, Mickael Pietrus had six, and Paul Pierce had five.

* Speaking of Pietrus, this was his first game since his concussion on March 23. He looked pretty good, knocking down a couple long jumpers and playing some solid defense. His return is welcome, especially if Allen is going to miss a bunch of time.

* Despite shooting just 3-for-16, R-ndo was brilliant, again. His stats were gaudy; 10 points, 10 boards, 20 assists -- his sixth triple-double of the season (a league high) -- but I thought the big key was his energy. Boston's lost a lot of close games over the last several year's due to slowing the pace way down on offense, and R-ndo, after playing more than 40 minutes the night before, took each and every outlet pass and raced up floor, forcing his teammates to at least get into their stuff at a reasonable pace if not attack on the fast break. The kid played 47 minutes tonight and looked just as fresh at the end as he did at the beginning. Words cannot describe how much I love watching him play.

* Boston did a nice job shutting down Atlanta's attempt at a game-winner at the end of regulation. Jannero Pargo was inbounding the ball on the far side without about six seconds to go, and he tossed the ball to Joe Johnson. As Johnson caught it, Pargo started to cut across the floor to the opposite wing, and R-ndo left him to double. Pargo took a little while to figure out that he was open and that he should get to some place he could shoot from, and he ended up with a rushed three at the horn that missed. I'm not sure if R-ndo or Doc gets the credit for that decision, but it really caught the Hawks by surprise and might have saved the game.

* Scary moment near the end of the game when Brandon Bass came down awkwardly and spent several moments on the ground, holding his knee. He stayed in the game, however, and it looks like Boston dodged a bullet there.

* The officials made two of the worst calls I've ever seen in overtime, both resulting in Boston turnovers. I haven't been able to find a video of them, but I'll post one if I can later. Just another thing the Celtics had to overcome.

So, here's the deal. We've mercifully got a day off before embarking on our road back-to-back-to-back in Toronto, New Jersey, and Charlotte. We've got a three-game cushion on Philly for the Atlantic crown, which would mean dodging Chicago and Miami in the first round. The final five games of the season are tough: at New York, home to Orlando, at Atlanta, home to Miami and Milwaukee. A sweep of these three upcoming games would probably give Doc the luxury of resting a few guys before the playoffs.

A sweep is a big ask at the end of what will end up being a very long week. But at this point, I'm not saying anything's out of the realm of possibility.