Celtics' defense took a bad rap

"I thought we played good defense," O'Brien said yesterday while preparing for tonight's game against Toronto. "After the game and watching the tape, I thought the same thing. You never play a perfect game defensively. If one guy is killing you from the three, you can knock him down. But if half the team is making threes, I don't know what you can do except challenge them."

The loss to Toronto was the third of a four-game losing streak. But the Celtics appear to have recovered, their 126-112 victory over Seattle Wednesday extending their winning streak to three and improving their record to 10-12, good for third place in the Atlantic Division. The SuperSonics shot 17 of 41 on 3-pointers.

Toronto's long-distance threat is Morris Peterson, who is 28 for 70 on 3-pointers. Five Raptors are shooting better than 33 percent on 3-pointers. Leading scorer Vince Carter (22.9 points per game) is shooting 32 percent on 3-pointers.

"You just hope they don't go for another franchise record," Paul Pierce said of the Raptors. "If we play Toronto with the same players, I like our chances, but when they hit 17 or 18 3-pointers, it's tough. If we play the type of defense we are capable of, I don't think they will knock down that many 3-pointers again.

"They are playing with a lot of confidence. These are two teams playing their best basketball right now."

The Celtics had their highest-scoring game of the season against Seattle, their fourth successive 100-plus total and fifth of the season.

"The way we are moving the ball and putting up the offensive numbers," Pierce said, "we are starting to put things together."

But the Celtics were outscored, 44-27, in the final quarter by the Sonics.

"In the NBA, after you get up 20 points, you rarely get up 40 points," O'Brien said. "The main thing is to get the lead and find out how to maintain it. We made defensive stops and we were able to continue challenging shots and getting rebounds off those shots. Teams can't come back unless they score points.

"We have had some good wins and are playing good basketball at different times. We have gotten big leads in the last four games, some 20-point leads we have been able to increase and maintain, sometimes the other team has been able to come back on us. I am not pleased with that part of the defense."

The Celtics' 116-111 win at Denver Dec. 7 was their first of three victories in a four-day span.

"Everything we've been through, positive and negative, is paying off," O'Brien said. "We seem to be going in the right direction and the team is growing. I can't point to any one thing and say it was a turning point. I'm not sure it has turned. We are a good, solid team." . . .

Tony Battie (right knee tendinitis) and Jiri Welsch (sprained left ankle) did not participate in yesterday's drills, but engaged in shooting practice.