At long last, a nice break for the Celtics

There is no substitute for youthful optimism.

Minutes removed from finally snapping a franchise-record 18-game losing streak, some Celtics were talking of putting together a winning streak.

"Our first half of the season wasn't too great. We lost 17, 18 in a row. We don't want to go back to that," said Gerald Green, who had 21 points in a 117-97 win over the Bucks Wednesday night at TD Banknorth Garden.

"We want to get on some winning streaks, instead of losing streaks, in the second half."

That could be tough for Boston, which heads to its All-Star hiatus with the NBA's worst record (13-38). The Celtics open up after the break with a five-game Western swing to Sacramento, Phoenix, Los Angeles ( Lakers), Utah, and Houston -- teams they are a combined 0-4 against this season. Only the Rockets, who haven't played the Celtics yet, don't already own a victory over them.

But with the Celtics avoiding infamy with their victory over the Bucks, the trip takes on a different tenor. Instead of playing with the pressure of trying to avoid the ignominy of setting an NBA record for consecutive losses in a season, the Green -- to borrow a phrase from Las Vegas, site of the NBA All-Star Game -- will be playing with house money.

"I feel like we can beat anybody, regardless of East Coast, West Coast, South, whatever," said forward Al Jefferson.

"I feel like we can beat any team."

The Celtics are quick to point out that their 8-17 road mark is better than their record at home, which improved to 5-21 Wednesday. However, the Celtics are 0-7 against the Pacific Division this season, and the trip begins with three straight games against Pacific teams, starting with the Kings Tuesday.

Green, who is competing in the NBA slam dunk competition, said getting a win gives the Celtics confidence before trekking out West. Jefferson agreed.

"It's a relief," said Jefferson. "When you've lost this many games in a row, everybody is talking about you. You see on the TV people talking negative about you."

Although coach Doc Rivers said he felt getting a win before the trip gave his team a "fighting chance" out West, he acknowledged that just because the losing streak is over, that doesn't mean the hard times are, as well.

"Listen, we're going on a five-game road trip now out West, so it doesn't get any easier," said Rivers, who let the team start its break early by canceling yesterday's practice after it won for the first time since Jan. 5.

"But at least we're going to have our troops. We're going to be healthier. This is the healthiest that we actually can be the rest of the year because Tony [Allen] is not coming back and Theo [Ratliff] is not coming back. This is as healthy as we're going to be. At least we go out there with health."

Rivers is right. The Celtics have already lost 157 man games because of injury this season. They had 171 last season. Both Allen, who blew a dunk after the whistle against the Indiana Pacers and then blew out his left ACL, and Ratliff, who had back surgery last month, are sidelined for the rest of the season.

It's not a coincidence the Celtics won with Wally Szczerbiak and Paul Pierce playing together for the first time since Dec. 16. The last time they played together, the Celtics scored a 106-100 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats to give Boston a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

Asking them to win five in a row out West might be a bit much, but last season during a four-game, post-All-Star-break Western sojourn, they went 3-1. The lone loss came when Szczerbiak had to sit out against the Suns with a bruised left knee.

Bucks coach Terry Stotts said it's not fair to judge the Celtics on their 18-game slide, during which Pierce and Szczerbiak never suited up for the same game. He said the team Boston will take West is better than that.

"The team that we played didn't lose 18 in a row," said Stotts. "[With] Paul Pierce and Szczerbiak, they're a talented team. They got all their players now. If they had all their players for those 18 games, they wouldn't have gone 0 and 18."

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.