There's no East Coast bias in this assessment

The Celtics have matched last season's pace by winning 14 of their first 16 games. Now, the Celtics are preparing for more predictable opposition - they play host to Philadelphia tomorrow - following a 119-111 win over Golden State last night.

"Philly's more power ball," Celtic coach Doc Rivers said. "They're athletic as heck, they have Elton Brand now. And they're going to go down low and play pick and roll."

The Warriors simply free-lanced. And they scored more points than any Celtic opponent this season. But the Warriors have surrendered 243 points in a 24-hour period, following their 124-100 loss to Washington Tuesday.

"We knew that [Tuesday] night they played, but it was a tough game for us to gauge because they missed a lot of shots," Ray Allen said. "It ended up being a blowout and we knew that wasn't who they were as a team. We said they were going to score, take a lot of shots, unpredictable shots, and they did that. Doc said that, specifically, don't let them catch a string of shots, but I think there was a moment there in the second quarter where they got that."

In fact, the Warriors' 39-19 second quarter was the highest-scoring total for a Celtics opponent at TD Banknorth Garden since Atlanta scored 43 April 14, 2004.

Center of attention

The Celtics have sent a package of plays to the NBA highlighting Kendrick Perkins's involvement in receiving eight technical fouls. "We're just trying to notify them, when it does happen, to watch - more for the future than for the past," Rivers said. "It helps, sometimes."

Rondo on roll

The Celtics' winning margin was 13.8 points in the last five games, thanks partly to point guard Rajon Rondo's play. Rondo scored 15, 18, 13, 15, and 22 points in those games, after averaging 7.1 points in the first 11 games of the season.

"He's got to keep doing it every night," Rivers said. "Three good games don't make a career. You have to do it three, four, five years in a row - now you've established yourself."

"He is a throwback, in some ways," Rivers said. "He uses his speed and his mind-set is to set up teammates. He's young, but forget about their age with Rondo and [Glen Davis] - you have to push them every day and you have to understand they are young and they will grow."

Worth the effort

Before the season, the Warriors signed coach Don Nelson to a contract extension. Nelson, 68, has 1,285 wins in 30 seasons, trailing only Lenny Wilkens in career victories (1,332).

When asked if he is surprised Nelson is still coaching, Rivers said: "No. He's a lifer . . . Every time I talk to him, he talks about retiring. I'm like, 'No way.' He'll retire for a year and then he'll be back. He's Joe Paterno. They'll have to will Don off the floor before he quits."

Asked why he continues to coach, Nelson replied: "Cold cash, baby, cold cash. I guess I like it."

Nelson was impressed with the Celtics. "They're the [NBA] champs, they're terrific," Nelson said. "They may have nights like this more often than they would want but, anyway, compared to our last game, we played about as well as we can."

Minor improvements

Celtic draft choices J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker are adjusting to life in the NBA Development League. "Instead of sitting in street clothes doing nothing, they're playing basketball games," Celtic president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. "You can't develop completely without playing basketball." The Utah Flash visit Austin tomorrow in their regular-season opener. "They want them to have playing time and they want them to learn the pro basketball game," Utah coach Brad Jones said. "But, at the same time, they want them to be held accountable to a set of standards. What they're scared of is these guys come down here and me, as a coach, say, 'Oh, I've got these two Celtics guys. I'm going to let them do whatever they want.' That's what they do not want. They want them to be held to a set of rules."

Julian Benbow and Marc J. Spears of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.