Celtics in united state

They say losses draw them closer

This could be a Celtic slump. The team could be road-weary. Certainly, opponents are devising strategies to counteract the Boston stars, both the established and emerging ones.

The Celtics failed to match the New York Knicks in both effort and tactics in a 100-88 loss Sunday, and they can expect a similar brew of energy and strategy when they visit Charlotte tonight.

But the defeats - the 29-6 Celtics have lost four of six - have served more to galvanize the team than discourage it.

"The adversity we've gone through the last two years, we almost revel in it," guard Ray Allen said. "We always bounce back from it. As a team, we've always gotten closer. I think when you lose, most teams gravitate away from each other. We have a tendency to gravitate toward each other even more."

The Celtics gathered for their usual postgame powwow in the cramped Madison Square Garden locker room Sunday night, the session lasting longer than usual. They emerged united.

"We talked about it after the game, what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong," said captain Paul Pierce, who scored 31 points against the Knicks. "And the good thing about this group is, we're a strong group. We just have to get through this period. We know we're a better team than what we've been playing lately."

The Celtics had the best 29-game start in league history, but their 19-game winning streak ended Dec. 25. Successive losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors exposed some vulnerabilities.

The Lakers dropped off point guard Rajon Rondo, clogging the lane; they also presented strong inside threats offensively, exposing the Celtics' lack of depth. Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni copied some of those ideas, matching 6-foot-11-inch Jared Jeffries with Rondo and sending Wilson Chandler directly at Kevin Garnett, who was limited by early foul trouble and a late calf injury. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said the Knicks' defensive setup was similar to the Lakers' in Game 3 of the NBA Finals last spring, an 87-81 Los Angeles victory.

The Knicks established themselves with a 28-15 third quarter.

"I think the Lakers and the Knicks did the same thing - they put a bigger guy on me," Rondo said. "They doubled all night and that kind of bothered us, especially in the third quarter.

"They outworked us. It was a lack of focus. We have to be focused every night, respect our opponents - not that we didn't - but if we came in focused, there is no way we lose this game."

The Celtics started making stops in the final quarter, but failed to turn those into transition scores.

"We're just inconsistent in our defense, we're playing in spurts," Pierce said. "It's just communication. We're not communicating as well as we have on defense the past couple of weeks and we have to get back to that. We have to take pride in playing every night.

"Teams are going to run different lineups at us, they are going to go small, put shooters out there, and we just have to make the adjustment. That's what we do - we try to get stops. We're a defensive team.

"Most of the game, when you look up and you hold a team to 40-41 percent, you say you're playing well defensively. But key moments of the game we just couldn't get stops and that's the fourth quarter and that's when our defense should be at its best.

"Every team has to play on the road - I mean, last year we were the best road team in the NBA. So, we'll get it together."

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at fdellapa@globe.com