This roll reversal a total surprise

Jim O'Brien doesn't know why he was suddenly watching a different Celtics team in the third quarter last night. "We did not stand around for the first seven games of the season," he said. "But there were two big factors tonight: good play by the Bulls, and our decision to stand around in the second half."

On the flip side, Chicago general manager John Paxson didn't know why the spirit moved his team last night.

"That's the first time we've played hard all season," he shrugged.

The apparent moral of Chicago's surprising 89-82 triumph over the Celtics down at the Fleet is simply that robots do not play this game; people do. And people are quirky and unpredictable.

The Celtics trailed by a 47-44 score at the half, but O'Brien was not displeased. His team was moving the ball to his satisfaction (assists on the first 13 baskets and 15 of 17 overall), and sometimes you've just got to give due credit to the other team. For whatever reason, a Bulls team that had already lost by 25-plus on three separate occasions (two at home), and which was clearly placing coach Bill Cartwright's job in jeopardy, had finally come to play.

But the Celtics put forth a stinkbomb of a third quarter, shooting 5 for 21. "We chose to stand instead of move without the basketball," O'Brien noted. "And I think in the NBA that I know of over the last three years, and the way it's going, you stand, you lose. You have to move, you have to screen."

Perhaps they expected their star to bail them out. But this was not a night for the Paul Pierce season highlight film, at least not when it came to shooting the ball. He did have eight assists (most of them to Mike James, who drilled a career-high six threes), but he shot 4 for 15 with a whopping seven turnovers. When the Celtics, still very much in the game, went to their Go-To Guy in the fourth period, he came up empty.

It was a real downer after the events of Sunday and Tuesday. Surviving a terrible start to defeat Sacramento Sunday and then coming from 14 back to defeat the Pacers in Conseco Field House two nights later seemed to indicate this was becoming a team of substance. The Celtics had been doing some real nice things. But in this game they never really got started. There were seven early lead changes before Chicago retook the advantage at 20-19 on a Kendall Gill jumper and never gave it back. The Celtics never really sustained anything. The Bulls were the clear aggressors, winning just about every hustle battle, in addition to making the necessary cut-them-off-at-the-pass shots as the game unfolded.

But why? Why last night? Where has this desire, this scrap, this grit been hiding itself? If Bill Cartwright only knew . . .

"What we talked about before we came out is that if anything happens in this game tonight, we are going to play harder than the Celtics," Cartwright explained. "Forget the X's and O's. Let's just play harder than them. If we do that, we'll be right there."

There were numerous examples of the Bulls putting this plan into action, but one fourth-quarter example should suffice. With 42 seconds remaining, brawny Eddy Curry (16 points, 14 rebounds) missed a pair of free throws. But Donyell Marshall came flying in from absolutely nowhere, ripping the rebound of the second clank away from a couple of startled Celtics to earn a pair of free throws. He was hugged by Jalen Rose, and when he walked to the free throw line there was a big grin on his face. You know what? He deserved that moment. He had been busting his butt from the opening tap, salvaging a 1-for-10 shooting night with 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

Nothing in the Bulls' immediate past hinted that they would play a semi-inspired game last night. They arrived here without Tyson Chandler (back) and Corrie Blount (ankle), which means the only available backup for the foul-plagued Curry was the game, but undersized Lonny Baxter. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. The Celtics had programmed themselves to lose this game, and the Bulls had certainly programmed themselves to win it.

Did playing Tuesday night have anything to do with the grim Boston second-half performance? Stand back while Coach O'Brien takes his Sammy Sosa cut at that one.

"I sure as hell hope not," he snarled. "If we can't play back-to-back games, that's 19 games we're going to lose. I attribute it to the Bulls outplaying us."

Oh, and as for that pleasing attempt at implementing some transition that Danny Ainge was hoping to see this season? Not that the Celtics are the second coming of the 1987 Lakers but their performance in the running game was astonishing, even by modern NBA standards. The number of transition points for your Boston Celtics last night? None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Squat. Let's hope they hide this information from one Arnold J. Auerbach. He may opt for a seance to contact the spirit of Sonny Werblin and decide to take that Knicks job, after all.

The game was a disappointment, and a reminder that the 2003-04 Boston Celtics, while possessing some good qualities, have got to follow the nightly blueprint if they hope to succeed. "I'm sure everybody in our franchise is frustrated right now because we let an opportunity get away," O'Brien said. "But there is potential growth. You learn from your mistakes, and we made a lot of mistakes tonight that were very, very correctable."

LeBron's on his way. You would think the players on this team would have a strong desire to make sure they don't get upstaged by The Kid tomorrow night.

But you would be wise to make no assumptions. And when teams like this get together I'll never understand what would possess anyone to place a bet. If the coaches have no clue, why should any of us?

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.