Welsch: Steady as he goes

Jiri Welsch, the player unknown even to coach Jim O'Brien before Welsch arrived in Boston, is one of them.

Locate the Czech Republic forward's name on the roster, then pencil in "mainstay."

With each game, Welsch is becoming more acclimated and he has thus become a reliable asset to a team in first place in the Atlantic Division. Last night, Welsch scored 10 of his career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Celtics past Philadelphia, 87-84, before a FleetCenter crowd of 18,624.

Welsch was 8 for 12 from the floor, 2 for 4 from the 3-point line, 4 for 4 from the free throw line, and added 4 assists.

The Sixers were the team that picked Welsch in the first round of the 2002 draft before immediately trading him to the Golden State Warriors. He subsequently was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

It marked the second time Welsch has played well against a former team. His previous high in scoring was 21 points against Dallas, the team from which the Celtics acquired him in the Antoine Walker deal.

Welsch, who has started in 16 of the 27 games he's played in Boston, is now averaging 7.6 points per game, and is shooting the ball well of late. "I think it's a matter of confidence," said Welsch. "I've been working with my shot before practices, after practices. Now, definitely, I feel more confident, and guys are doing a better job of finding me on the court."

Helping the team rally from a 14-point second-half deficit, Welsch drained consecutive treys to pull the Celtics to 70-67 with 6:37 left. "Every time Paul [Pierce] found me open, he put the ball right in my hands," said Welsch. "It's an easy job to knock down the shot."

Then he made clutch free throws with the contest on the line over the last three minutes.

After stealing a Derrick Coleman pass with 2:10 left and being fouled four seconds later, he sank two free throws to tie the game, 77-77. The Celtics led by as many as 5 points, then put the game away at the line. Welsch sank two free throws with 19.4 seconds remaining to give Boston an 85-82 lead.

In the first half, he had 8 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He and Pierce (12 first-half points) were the only Celtics starters to score in the first half, in which the Celtics shot 36 percent. They trailed by 12 at halftime.

"He's doing so many important things for us," said O'Brien about Welsch. "The other thing is that I think people think they can go at him, like they're going to post him or isolate him, but he's a good defensive player. He has been such a key element to our team, for him to be a part of what right now is a first-place team.

"And I have made no bones about it . . . I had no idea who this kid was prior to him coming to Dallas. I didn't know what he looked like, I didn't know his skills. To [executive director of basketball operations] Danny Ainge's credit, he really thought highly of this guy and made sure we had him in this trade, and it has paid tremendous dividends."

Welsch is now shooting 47 percent from the floor. "Every game, I'm trying to play with the biggest effort that I can," said Welsch. "I just feel more comfortable and that's how my performances have looked."