Breaking point for Celtics?

WALTHAM -- Consider the Celtics' buttons sufficiently pushed.

The Celtics are angry. They are angry about losing 11 games in a row. They are angry about losing leads in the second half. They are angry about committing turnover after turnover. They are angry that a few mistakes can cause complete lapses in focus.

But most of all, the Celtics are angry that some people, including coach Doc Rivers, don't think they are angry enough to end the losing streak.

Following the most recent defeat, a 105-91 loss to the Washington Wizards Sunday night, Rivers commented that the players were not upset enough or desperate enough to change the results on the court. Judging by responses yesterday -- after one of the toughest practices of the season -- the remarks by Rivers had the desired effect.

The players seemed confident that they would end the losing streak tonight against the Pacers in Indianapolis. They want to show Rivers and others just how fed up they are by earning a win for the first time since Jan. 5 at Memphis.

"He is a guy that hates to lose," said Delonte West. "You could tell the way he played that he did not like to lose. There are a lot of guys on this team that don't like to lose. We've got to put it all together.

"We're upset. We're tired of losing. We're . . . tired . . of . . . losing. You know what I'm saying?

"We're going out to Indiana and we're going to get a win. We're tired of this. That's all I can tell you.

"We can taste blood, man. We're due."

That confidence may come, in part, from knowing how Indiana plays. The Pacers, who sent Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Josh Powell to the Warriors earlier this month for Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod, struggle with consistency. Like the Celtics, the Pacers are prone to costly mental and physical lapses. They tend to start slowly, then catch up and make games competitive.

If the Celtics can withstand a likely second-half run from the Pacers, they may be in position to win.

And considering the schedule, this may be Boston's best chance of ending the streak before it reaches franchise-record proportions. After playing the Pacers, they return home tomorrow to face the Lakers in the second of back-to-back games, then the Clippers, who beat them by 23 in December, come to town Friday. Next there are games against Detroit (on the road), and Miami and New Jersey (both at home).

The franchise record for consecutive losses is 13.

Knowing all that, the Celtics should be angry and desperate enough tonight to come close to playing four consistent quarters.

"We've all got to dig down deep and get a win," said Kendrick Perkins. "I'm getting tired of talking about it, saying what we need to do. We've just got to go do it.

"Each possession during the game, one person messes up something that hurts us. It could be a rotation, messing up a play, a turnover. Even when we score or do something, somebody messed up anyway. That's what we need to clean up. Everybody needs to be on the same page all the time."

That helps explain why the team practiced for about two hours yesterday, considerably longer than recent workouts. Rivers said "a lot of teaching" took place; but at this point, effectively applied anger and frustration seem just as important as any drill work.

"The anger has to be in the right direction," said West. "Guys can't be upset because they didn't play well or they didn't get the numbers they wanted. You've got to get mad because we're losing.

"I think that's starting to happen now. Guys are saying that this is not fun. Not fun at all. They don't even show our highlights on 'SportsCenter.' They don't show us on the ticker. It's not worth showing the Celtics highlights no more. Guys are going to get upset with that."

Now, if only the Celtics had something to show for that.