This close call was refreshing to hear

Up by 1 point, time winding down, the Celtics digging in on defense and all you could do was pray -- pray that Gilbert Arenas was nowhere to be found.

Arenas, who has beat the Celtics twice in the final seconds with free throws, was in Philadelphia, which meant he couldn't be in TD Banknorth Garden to break the Celtics' hearts again. Instead, Stephen Jackson got the last shot, missed it, and the Celtics got one back from the Hoop Gods, taking a 99-98 decision over the Indiana Pacers.

Hey, that makes two 1-point, opponent's game-winner-doesn't-drop victories in the last three games! Do we sense a trend here? We don't want to use the dreaded L word, but maybe the Celtics are starting to get the kind of good fortune they seem to have missed up to this point in compiling their rather underwhelming record (see Arenas, Gilbert; Hamilton, Richard; Stackhouse, Jerry; Fisher, Derek; Korver, Kyle, etc.).

''This year has been rough on us along the lines of winning close games and winning games down the stretch. A lot of reasons for that, but it's good to get one," said Raef LaFrentz, who had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-best 7 assists.

In the space of five days, Kobe Bryant and Jackson have missed jumpers at the buzzer and the Celtics have walked off the floor as 1-point winners. OK, Kobe's was a tougher shot, but only because Luke Walton failed to hit a wide-open Lamar Odom underneath the basket.

And did we mention that the Celtics' final basket last night was a banked 3-pointer from the top of the key by Paul Pierce?

''You tempt fate with a banked shot or an official's call," said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, who is doing another remarkable on-the-fly coaching job, but was none too pleased after this one. ''We have no one to blame but ourselves."

The young Celtics are getting to be old hands in these kinds of games, which, if nothing else, hopefully builds character and grit for future close contests. Boston is 7-8 in games decided by 3 points or fewer; that's more than 25 percent of their games. The Pacers have played in only seven such games (2-5).

Only Chicago (nine) and Toronto (10) have more losses in that point differential, and only one team, Denver, has had as many as 15 games decided by 3 points or fewer. In other words, you play enough of these kinds of games, you have to figure the law of averages is going to work out eventually (although the 76ers are 0-6 in 3-point games and the Timberwolves are 1-7).

''When we lost a lot of these games early on, Coach kept telling us, 'They'll come back our way. They'll come back our way. Just see,' " Ryan Gomes said. ''Hopefully, we won't be in these situations a lot where we have to depend on them missing a shot at the buzzer."

The Pacers got a good look. They just went to the wrong guy. Peja Stojakovic (a team-high 24 points) had all eight of his field goals before the third quarter was even half over. He took one shot in almost nine minutes in the fourth, a rushed 3-pointer. He still is their best shooter.

Said Doc Rivers, ''You've got to think the best ballhandlers, so we thought if it would be Stojakovic, it would be a flare."

But Jackson got the look and the shot -- and there was no one in the building happier than Tony Allen when Jackson's shot bounced off the back rim. Allen was guarding Jackson and did the best he could.

Not much has gone right for Allen this season, so last night might be one for the personal highlight reel even though he didn't score and played only 3 minutes 35 seconds.

''We are starting to win these close games now, so this is huge for us going on the road," Pierce said.

It also was huge for whatever momentum the Celtics want to establish over the final 24 games. Had the Celtics lost, that would have really ended whatever was left of the excitement generated by their 3-1 road trip, excitement that already had been tempered by Boston's loss to Miami Wednesday.

Hey, they still haven't won three in a row yet. But they've won four of five and are 6-3 with Gomes as a starter and their last two wins have been true payback victories.

But hold off if you think they're finally free. The Wizards, and Arenas, are on the docket for Tuesday night.