It took 'D' to end losing spell

Paul Pierce trotted out the dreaded 'D' word before last night's game. After three losses in three games, two of them at home, the Celtics' captain said he wanted his young team to play with a newfound sense of desperation. He compared it to a seventh-game situation -- despite there being 79 games to play -- and said that mentality must continue until the Celtics become ardent and successful defenders of the home front.

While that may sound a tad extreme, the message was timely and on target, especially with the news that Al Jefferson was going to be out for at least a couple weeks after yesterday's emergency appendectomy. And it went heeded, although it hardly was convincing (a 110-108 overtime victory over Charlotte) and it didn't come without warts (25 turnovers, 12 by Pierce) or blemishes (a blown 6-point lead in the final 72 seconds of regulation). But, as Pierce noted afterward, "I just wanted a win, no matter how we played. I wanted to come back to this locker room with a win and get the monkey off our back."

Hey, they got their first win of the season, eight days into the season, and before Dallas. Who would have thought that? "It's nice to see a 1 because 0 [stinks], " coach Doc Rivers said. "Hopefully, it will let some of the guys relax a little."

Pierce's message about the urgency of the situation is borne out by the Celtics' November schedule. It reads as if it came right off the late Red Auerbach's dictation machine. Seven of the first nine games at home. Nine of the first 14 at home. Eight of the 14 games against teams that didn't make the playoffs last season . Four games against the Knicks and Bobcats. A home visit by Portland.

That's 14 wins by Tommy Heinsohn's count -- unless the referees mess it up, which, as we've seen, clearly has been the case at least three times. (We're pretty sure they messed up last night, too.) But a reasonable expectation for this ensemble had to be at least eight or nine victories in November -- if this season is going to be an upgrade over last season's 33-win disappointment.

Pierce didn't quite use the phrase "must win," which sounds rather absurd in November. And must-win games are sort of like team meetings. You lose the game and, well, what are you supposed to do when the sun comes up in the morning? Forfeit? But facing the franchise's worst start since 1969, Pierce obviously felt it was time.

It brought back memories of Jim O'Brien's postgame speech in Washington after the Celtics dropped their first two games of the 2002-03 season. In Game 2, they had just been buried by the Wizards, 114-69, the second-worst defeat in the history of the franchise. (At the time, it was the worst.) O'Brien wrote the number "80" on the blackboard -- the number of games remaining -- and wanted to know who was going to show up for them? That team ended up winning 44 games.

This team? Who knows? Pierce had another big game with 35 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a trust-thy-teammate pass to Delonte West, who coolly dropped the winner as time expired. But the 12 turnovers, a franchise record, gave him one of those triple-doubles you don't like to mention in the résumé. It was like he was keeping both teams in the game.

Wally Szczerbiak, who also had 35 points, certainly took the desperation call seriously, although he was a bit late to the show. He missed his first five shots and had just 6 points at the half, before going Krakatoa in the third, scoring 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting. And Ryan Gomes quietly notched his first triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists .

But there were also some intriguing subplots in this one, such as the debut of Theo Ratliff, who announced his presence by swallowing an Emeka Okafor offering on the first possession of the game. There was a Brian Scalabrine sighting -- and for more than a cameo. Scal played 16-plus minutes and, in the second quarter, helped a weird lineup erase a deficit that had reached 9 points in the first quarter. There was Rivers's decision to play West at the point, behind Sebastian Telfair, which meant the first DNP of the season for Rajon Rondo.

And there also was the welcome sight to Celtics fans of the boys finally prevailing in a close game, finishing off a victory, albeit five minutes later than they would have liked. That is still rewarding no matter who, or where, you play.

When Rivers was told of Pierce's message to the mates, the coach said, "You should play desperate every night. I mean, you lose three in a row in January or February and you lose three in a row. But you lose the first three games of the season, then the mental part of 'We've gotta get that first win' builds. But I like the desperate part."

And he liked the result even better.

Peter May can be reached at P_May@globe.com.