Celtics claw to victory

With one driving layup, Paul Pierce made a final impression that forever changed the perception of last night's game.

Receiving a handoff from Raef LaFrentz near the top of the 3-point arc, Pierce saw an open lane to the basket and followed it, easily scoring the winner with three-10ths of a second remaining and snatching a 90-89 victory from the pesky grip of the Charlotte Bobcats. That one triumphant moment made it easy to overlook nearly four quarters of reenergized yet dangerously inconsistent play.

All is not right with Boston, but it is better.

The team that slogged semiconscious through road losses in Cleveland and Atlanta just before Thanksgiving was not the team that took the court at the TD Banknorth Garden.

In front of a sellout crowd, the Celtics played with markedly more effort as evidenced by the number of players who hit the floor or dived over sidelines in pursuit of loose balls. The players came to play, though their execution sometimes left something to be desired. (For example, the Bobcats shot 49 percent in the first half and scored a total of 26 second-chance points.)

Regardless, the Celtics hope the win represents a trend toward more spirited play and an end to the flat performances that doomed them, particularly on the defensive end.

With the exception of rookie Gerald Green (in uniform for the first time, but not in action) and Mark Blount (who did not play due to a coach's decision), everyone played a part in the victory. Kendrick Perkins started in place of Blount. As of his postgame press conference, coach Doc Rivers expected Perkins to keep that role in Monday night's game against Orlando. While the change to the starting lineup may have sparked the Celtics, veteran LaFrentz cautioned against seeing the absence of Blount as producing more energized, more effective play.

''If we're going to make waves, if we're going to go in the right direction, Mark Blount needs to be a part of it," said LaFrentz (22 points, 10 rebounds). ''There are certain things that need to be taken care of, without a doubt. It's not fair to pinpoint any real good things or any real bad things on one person. You replaced him with guys [Perkins, Al Jefferson, Justin Reed, Brian Scalabrine] who their game is energy. That's what they bring. That's what they're expected to do. They did that tonight. But we were very close to losing this game. I feel lucky to have won. But as far as Mark is concerned, it's just a tough time between two people that hopefully we can work through."

Rivers did not elaborate on what the future holds for Blount. He did not know when or how Blount would work his way back into the rotation, though he had no plans of benching the 7-footer for the entire game when the contest started.

''We'll just see," said Rivers. ''I told him, 'I don't know [what will happen].' I didn't make a conscientious effort to sit him, to be honest. I thought about it. The coaching staff went back and forth on it. I told my coaches, 'You'll see.' As the game went on, I just thought, you know what, these guys are playing hard and they're playing together. I liked our energy. So, I decided I was going to stay that way.

''He'll show me what he shows me. My whole thing is everybody has to be on the same page with everybody. It has to be a team. It can't ever be an I. When it starts getting that way, you have to make moves . . . but I tell guys all the time: 'It's not the coach doing it. It's you doing it.' You could see [the players on the court] really wanted to win this game."

But still, the fourth quarter was reminiscent of what happened when the teams met a few weeks ago, as Boston squandered a 10-point lead early in the period. A layup by Reed pushed the Celtics ahead, 75-65, with 9:38 remaining. Then, the Bobcats staged a 10-0 run capped by a Kareem Rush 3-pointer, tying the game at 75 with 7:23 left. Another 3-pointer by Rush gave Charlotte its first lead (80-77) of the fourth less than two minutes later. It would stay a one-possession game down the stretch as the Celtics failed to capitalize on defensive stops, taking quick 3-pointers (Ricky Davis) and missing dunks and layups (Pierce).

With 43.4 seconds remaining, Emeka Okafor (13 points, 11 rebounds) went to the line and made one of two foul shots to push Charlotte ahead, 89-86. Trailing by 3, Pierce went inside for a layup. He made the shot, but could not draw enough contact for a 3-point play. The Bobcats regained possession with 29 seconds left. The Celtics knew if they stayed patient and did not foul, they would have one last chance to win the game. They got the ball back on a jump ball after a traveling call against Knight was reversed. That left Pierce plenty of time.

''It was a much-needed win, regardless of how we got it," said Pierce (27 points, eight rebounds). ''We just needed a win after not playing very well over the last five games. We just needed to somehow come out here and get a win, and we did."