If this was a test - like, for instance, the SAT - then the majority of the Celtics should be admitted to Harvard this morning.
So many of them aced the long-anticipated conference exam against the Detroit Pistons last night, you almost wondered if someone slipped them the answers ahead of time.
Kevin Garnett, a bundle of energy and emotion, was the catalyst, submitting a season-high 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting. He converted many of his elbow jumpers and post-up moves against a favorite foil, the combustible Rasheed Wallace. In one of the more heartwarming moments of the evening, KG baited 'Sheed into back-to-back fouls within eight seconds early in the fourth quarter, sending Wallace to the bench with five personals.
Suffice to say, No. 5 is completely healed from his abdominal strain. If KG had been any more pumped up, he would have scraped his head on the Jumbotron.
Garnett's accomplices included captain Paul Pierce, who sat for nearly 10 1/2 minutes toward the end of the third quarter to midway through the fourth before he checked back in and dropped arguably the biggest shot of the night - a back-breaking 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down that pushed a tenuous 1-point advantage (78-77) to a 4-point cushion and sparked a burst of scoring that proved to be the knockout.
"KG was playing so well, I was thinking, 'Who knows if I even need to be back in the game?' " Pierce confessed.
You expect such performances from the redoubtable cornerstones of this increasingly credible team, but there was more at work last night. Rajon Rondo grew up some more before our eyes, challenging veteran Chauncey Billups with tenacity and quickness and guile, rather than being beaten down by his strength and experience, as he was in the first two meetings.
Then there was Kendrick Perkins, the oft-forgotten big man, who hauled in every key rebound in the fourth quarter when the game was hanging in the balance. Perk checked out with 20 boards, 2 blocks, and 10 points, including two reverse layups in traffic that made the Pistons pay for doubling his more celebrated teammates.
Even Ray Allen, who suffered through a 1-for-9 shooting night, was given a passing grade by his coach for hounding Rip Hamilton from one screen to the next.
This was the biggest game of the season for both teams, if for no other reason than it established home-court advantage should they finish with the same record. With the season series knotted, 1-1, this was the tiebreaker.
Advantage, Celtics.
Not that home-court advantage has meant much. When you are pitting veterans against veterans and franchises that have been intertwined for decades against one another, there's a lot more at work than whether the game is on a friendly parquet floor with a leprechaun occupying the center circle.
The Pistons already had a legitimate alibi in case they stumbled at the outset. Their plane, delayed by weather, did not touch down in Boston until 4 in the morning, and, as one Pistons official snorted before the game, "We don't have a shot."
They truly didn't in the first quarter, when they missed 17 of their first 23 shots (26.1 percent) and were outscored, 17-3, out of the gate.
Ah, but this is the NBA, and no lead is safe - particularly in the first quarter, and particularly against a team with Detroit's mettle.
Did you really think 'Sheed and Chauncey and Rip were going to be content with getting blown out just because they didn't get enough sleep? Forget about it. Hamilton started doing what he does best - slashing to the hole - and Wallace started challenging KG with his usual array of threes, and some post-up moves. Billups, as usual, was the consummate facilitator.
We've dissected ad nauseam Boston's vulnerability against this team when Rondo isn't on the floor, but the Pistons looked mighty mortal themselves last night when Billups took a breather. Detroit's bench is pretty green when rookie Rodney Stuckey, second-year man Amir Johnson, and second-year man Jason Maxiell are on the floor.
Johnson was tortured by childhood idol Garnett in the post, and appeared mildly shellshocked in the wake of KG's schooling.
"I couldn't really stop him tonight," said Johnson, in what can only be charitably characterized as the understatement of the game.
He wasn't alone.
The Garnett-Wallace matchup in the first half was worth the price of admission. First it was Wallace burying a trey over Garnett's outstretched arm. Then it was Garnett countering with a demonstrative drive to the hole, 2 of 12 consecutive points scored for Boston.
"I was in the flow early, and I never looked back," offered KG.
"He gives them an inside presence," Wallace said. "Something they haven't had since [Kevin] McHale and [Robert] Parish. And that was something like 20 years ago."
Wallace, who had 23 points, has long been the X factor for Detroit. When he is engaged, the Pistons can beat anyone. But when the big man with the hair-trigger temper becomes disinterested or distracted, his team becomes vulnerable.
'Sheed was dialed into this outing. He nailed a 3-pointer over Glen Davis to kick off the third quarter, then was hacked on a fallaway by Perkins on the next possession.
Wallace lingered near the Celtics' bench just long enough to declare to coach Doc Rivers, "You got no one that can guard me, Doc."
Then he stepped to the line and missed both free throws.
Of course, the game came down to the wire. Boston put the clamps on defensively, Rondo laid down a thunderous dunk in transition, and the Celtics finished off this 90-78 win with a kick as strong as a shot of Jamieson whiskey.
While last night was a pleasant snapshot of possible future playoff endeavors, it certainly is only that - a glimpse of what might come. If the teams play again this season, the Celtics will presumably have Sam Cassell (and an active P.J. Brown) in tow. While Boston's grizzled guys continue to gush over the addition of Sudden Sam, the Detroit locker room was decidedly less impressed. There is a feeling among their brethren that Cassell is at the end of the line. While the Celtics will look to him to improve their pick-and-roll opportunities at the offensive end, the Pistons were salivating at the possibility of exposing him with the same weapon at the other end.
"Defending pick-and-rolls is not Sam's forte," noted Pistons coach Flip Saunders.
Fighting words? Nah. There will be more intriguing subplots than that if we are fortunate enough to watch these guys duke it out in the second season (like, for instance, the bad blood between Garnett and Antonio McDyess that dates to when KG was with Minnesota and the two engaged in a shoving match that got both ejected).
Stick around. With any luck at all, the fun has just begun.
Jackie MacMullan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at macmullan@globe.com.
