Some common denominators

But any way the numbers from opening night were viewed, they indicated more positive than negative signs. Adjusted to suit the Boston offensive and defensive philosophies or not, it was clear the Celtics moved the ball well and kept the Heat away from the rim, especially in the second half.

Here are the numbers that stood out, from all perspectives: The Celtics officially finished with 28 assists -- 45 by the coaches' adjusted count. They committed 10 turnovers, including just four through the first three quarters. They blocked 9 shots. Six players had double figures and shot 51 percent. They held the Heat to 36.6 percent shooting. They allowed Miami to score just 2 points in the paint in the second half. Mark Blount showed his versatility with five assists. Mike James finished with six assists.

"It comes from having confidence in each other's ability and just loving to play with each other," said Paul Pierce, who could add 10 adjusted assists to his official 4.

But what, if anything, did the numbers mean to O'Brien and the players one game into the regular season on the eve of their first road trip. In some cases, they were important measures. The numbers were certainly spread among the nine rotation players complementing Pierce. That was a natural byproduct of the way O'Brien used his rotation in the opener. With the exception of Pierce, who played 35 minutes, no one played more than 28 (Raef LaFrentz and James) and no one played fewer than 13 minutes (Walter McCarty). The rest fell into the low- to mid-20s range.

"If you want to play Paul with nine guys, then those nine guys better put up rebounding numbers, assist numbers, and keep their turnovers down," said O'Brien.

The Celtics were most productive in the passing game. Everyone except McCarty had at least one assist. Last season, the Celtics recorded 28 or more assists on only four occasions. O'Brien wants his team to finish with 22 or more assists because he has calculated that bottom number gives Boston the best chance of winning.

"We don't talk to our players about too many statistics," said O'Brien. "This is for our tracking of what we think is important. We talk to our guys about unselfishness. We try to praise them for that unselfishness. They really have to know why they win, what wins for them, as much as they have to know what loses for them. We try to go three parts positive to one part negative. But the negative is ugly."

The coaching staff bases its tracking on nine statistical offensive goals and nine statistical defensive goals. The numbers set by the coaches have been proven to win for the Celtics in the past. For example, if they challenge 40 percent of an opponent's shots, the Celtics should win three out of every four games. They want 35 deflections per contest. They want to force 19 or more turnovers. They want to shoot at least 46 percent from the floor. They want to commit 13 or fewer turnovers.

As far as the running game goes, the Celtics want to be out on the break 25 times a game. And of those 25 fast-break opportunities, O'Brien wants to convert 60 percent of them. Unfortunately, as O'Brien said yesterday after practice, "We ain't even near it in either category." So for now, the emphasis remains on the running game.

"We're not really happy with our running game right now," said O'Brien. "We're just not getting out quickly enough. We're not sprinting quickly enough. We're not advancing the basketball up. We're not moving the defense. In order to take best advantage of our depth, we have to do those things.

"By and large, our guys know if they're not sprinting, either they're fatigued, in which case I'm going to take them out, or if they're not sprinting and they're not fatigued, I'm going to take them out anyway. We want to get up and down the court. But right now, we are not driving ourselves enough, taking advantage of our depth. It's just not up to the point guard to push it. Those people on the wings and the big guys need to bust it."