WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Ticket to the Swag Show: The first quarter was the Rondo (or, as KG calls him, “Swag”)  show. He scored 13 of the Celtics 28 first quarter points.  Rondo watched from the bench as Garnett went 8-of-9 from the field in the second quarter on his way to 17 points. KG abused Spencer Hawes and Elton Brand in the post after Lavoy Allen picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter.

The C’s outscored the Sixers 32-14 while shooting 13-of-19 (68 percent) in the second quarter to take control of the game.  The Celtics scored 60 first-half points, for some perspective, Boston only scored 49 points through the third quarter of Game 2.

Doin’ Philly Better Than Philly: The 76ers turned the ball over the fewest times per game in the regular season and also in the first round of the playoffs. The Celtics were fantastic Wednesday night, only committing two turnovers in the first half of Game 2. The 60-point offensive display put on in the first half was predicated on meticulous execution.

While the efficiency was evident through the lack of turnovers, Rondo’s decision making was superb. He pushed the ball at the right times and knew when to pull up into a half court set. The Celtics turned their five steals in the first half into 12 fast break points, and held the younger 76ers to only seven.

Loose Balls: Essentially everything the Celtics did wrong in the first two games of the series was remedied on the road in Game 3.

• Unlike in Game 2, the Celtics stepped on the Sixers throat when they had the chance, extending their 11-point halftime lead to 23 by the end of the third quarter.
• Boston was a combined 10-of-36 from 3-point territory in Games 1 and 2. On Wednesday night they weren’t great from beyond the arc, but weren’t woeful either, finishing 5-of-11 from 3-point land.
• The Celtics played the aggressor while getting to the line 28 times, when in Game 2, they settled for jump shots and only got to the line nine times.
• Finally, the Celtics held a 44-37 rebounding advantage, which has been by far their biggest vice this season.

The Truth Isn’t in the Numbers: Paul Pierce started 2-of-9 shooting. While that certainly isn’t solid start, his two baskets were on emphatic dunks that enlivened his teammates. Pierce, along with Rondo, kept Boston in contention early, keeping the deficit to just five at the end of the first quarter, before the C’s exploded in the second and third quarter. Pierce also was engaged down low battling for 12 rebounds. And although The Truth’s shot wasn’t falling Wednesday night, he earned 14 trips to the foul line, converting 11.

WHAT WENT WRONG

That Was New: More of a commentary on the lack of investigative reporting on my part, but is the phenomenal “Flexing” celebration by Marquis Daniels, Keyon Dooling, and Ryan Hollins new? If not, how did we miss it?

Kidding aside, this was really all that could be expected from the C’s in Game 3. They took the first punch, giving up 33 first-quarter points, but only trailed by five, and dismantled the Sixers the rest of the way to regain control of the series.

The Celtics are going to try to find different ways to get Paul Pierce open in Game 3. (AP)

PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics have had a hard time getting Paul Pierce open for shots in the first two games of their series with the 76ers. Part of that can be attributed to Pierce’s sprained knee. A lot of it can be attributed to Andre Iguodala’s defense. Whatever the reason, the Celtics are going to try to make adjustments for Wednesday night’s Game 3.

“We’re not sure where those spots are yet,” Doc Rivers said. “Usually with Paul, the elbow isos are great, but right now he can’t get away from anybody with his leg. We’re going to go to more pin-downs for him and do different things. You usually didn’t have to get a body off of him. He can usually shake the body on his own. I think now we have to use him a lot like Ray [Allen] and bring him off screens.”

Pierce was 2-for-9 in Game 2 and is just 5-for-20 in the series. Rivers added that he may try to get more post-up looks for Pierce to try to get him going.

Asked about the severity of Pierce’s injury, Rivers said, “I don’t do percentages. I don’t think Iguodala cares what percentage he is and that’s what counts. When he’s on the floor he’s 100 percent and that’s how we play our guys, that’s how we view it. Whether he is or isn’t really doesn’t matter. We have to get 100 percent out of him of what he has, that’s what we have to do.”

Pierce is far from the only player dealing with an injury for the Celtics. They took Tuesday off and watched film, so Wednesday’s shootaround was the first time they’ve been on the court since Game 2. As expected, there was much attention paid to the struggling offense.

“We have to be more aggressive offensively,” Rivers said. “In Game 1 and Game 2, we we’re basically taking jump shots. Nine free throws at home that should never happen.”

On Brandon Bass, who took a team-high 15 shots, but made just five of them, Rivers said: “I got to say, of the 15, 10 of them were wide-open shots. What should a guy who can shoot do with wide-open shots: He should shoot the ball. Obviously you’d like him to make them, but he didn’t.”

On Kevin Garnett, who had just 12 shots, Rivers said: “I don’t care if he doesn’t get shots but he has to get touches. If he gets touches and they trap then someone else is going to get shots. If he gets touches and they don’t trap then he’s going to get shots. But he has to get touches. He ended up with 18 of them, but 13 of them were in the third and fourth quarter. To me that’s too late. We fell in love with the jump shot and we fell in love with the random offense.”

MICKAEL PIETRUS REFLECTS

The last time Mickael Pietrus and the Celtics were at the Wells Fargo Center on March 23, the versatile reserve was taken off the court in a stretcher. Piertus suffered a severe concussion after he hit hit the floor while driving to the basket and he said the memory is always with him.

“I’m not going to lie you, it’s bad memories for me,” Pietrus said. “My life could have been a different life. I’m blessed, coming back here for the playoffs.”

Pietrus said before Game 2 that he will get arthroscopic surgery on his right knee — the same procedure he had after last season — but he’s delaying it until after the season. He will also be dealing with the after-effects of his concussion.

“That’s something I’m trying to put behind me, but I really can’t,” he said. “I’ve been through it. I’m trying to. Sometimes just by playing I have flashes. When somebody falls or when I’m driving sometimes, I’ll just have flashes. I’m going to try. … It’s going to go away this summer.”

Pietrus added that he drove to the basket early in Game 2 because, “It’s something I have to do right away. If I think of if it I won’t be good because I’ll be afraid to hurt myself.”

AVERY BRADLEY PLAYS THROUGH THE PAIN

After his left shoulder popped out in the second quarter, Avery Bradley didn’t return to the court until the beginning of the fourth quarter. He was a plus-18 in his 21 minutes, but his shoulder injury obviously is a major concern.

“It’s just not regular,” he said. “It just makes everything harder on me. I just got to be careful. Last game, seeing that it popped out, I had to really be careful. Try not to think about it. If it pops out it pops out, all I can do is keep rehabbing and do whatever is best for me and the team.”

Despite Paul Pierce‘s assurance that “the knee was fine” after struggling in the Eastern Conference semifinals Game 2 loss, 76ers forward Elton Brand said the sprained MCL is noticeably taking its toll on the Celtics captain.

“When you’re hurting, it takes away some of your aggressiveness,” said Brand, whose 2007 knee injury was the first in a long line of Achilles, shoulder, hand and neck problems throughout his career. “You don’t think about it, but subconsciously it takes away your movement and your thrust.

“[It was noticeable] at times. We know what type of player he is and what kind of playoff performer he’s been.”

Pierce scored just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in Monday’s 82-81 loss to the Sixers. He amassed five rebounds, four steals and three assists but also registered five turnovers and four fouls over 37 minutes.

“We’ve got to figure out a better way to get the ball to him in different spots, away from traps,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan morning show. “I think Paul has to do a better job of handling those. I thought in the first game he was terrific down the stretch. He didn’t get any of the credit, but our three baskets down the stretch in Game 1 was off a Paul Pierce play. They were trapping him everywhere, and he moved the ball.”

Sixers Lavoy Allen and Andre Iguodola aren't making it easy for Paul Pierce and the Celtics. (AP)

Pierce scored 20 or more points in three of the first four games of the Hawks series, but he hasn’t eclipsed that mark since re-aggravating the MCL sprain in Game 4 hours after the injury first occurred during a team shootaround.

“He’s not hurting himself by playing,” said Rivers, “but he’s probably not healing either.

In other words, while the knee isn’t getting any worse, it’s also not getting any better. Against Andre Iguodola and the 76ers, Pierce is averaging only 10.5 points on 25.0 percent shooting (5-of-20 FG) in Round 2. He’s played at least 36 minutes in all four playoff games since crumbling to the Garden parquet in the second quarter of Round 1, including 77 minutes over the first two games of the Eastern Conference semis.

Still, Celtics trainer Eddie Lacerte told Rivers that Pierce just needs to play. “After Game 4, there’s a break, and hopefully that’ll help, but right now we have a lot of guys that are banged up, and we’ve just got to get through it,” added the Celtics coach. “We didn’t play well last night. That had nothing to do with injury.”

Perhaps it had more to do with Iguodola, who has been on the court for all but one of those 77 minutes. Pierce is averaging 8.5 points per 36 minutes when Iguodola is on the floor, and 108 per 36 when he’s not (1 MIN, 1-of-2 FG, 1-of-1 3P). A ridiculously limited sample size, for sure, but you get the point.

“I’m not worried,” Pierce countered after scoring 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting in Game 1. “I think as the series goes along I’m a smart enough player that I’ll figure out what they’re trying to do.”

The knee isn’t getting better, so the only choice left for Pierce is to get better at dealing with it.

Kevin Garnett was coming off a two-game stretch in which he totaled 57 points on 39 shots, 25 rebounds and eight blocks while putting the finishing touches on the Hawks and painting a new masterpiece agains the 76ers, so why did the Celtics wait until it was too late to get their center involved again?

“Maybe we weren’t a smart team or a well-coached team, because that was obviously the game plan to go there,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Morning Show. “We were in transition a lot and never really got into our sets. That happens in games. You see it all the time, but it just took too long to get into it. It took too long to establish it. We used timeouts to get into it — we just never did.”

Garnett made his first two shots, an 11-footer 17 seconds in and a 16-footer 2:48 into the first quarter, capping the C’s 5-for-5 shooting stretch that gave them an 11-3 start. And they turned to him once over the next 26:54.

“KG’s an unselfish player,” said Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who recorded 13 assists, but only two to Garnett — including one on the meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer that resulted in the 82-81 final score. “He could’ve taken a lot more shots than he did, but he passed up his shots to get the assist or made the hockey pass. In the fourth quarter, over the stretch, when KG had it going, we just kept feeding him.”

As if flipping a switch, the Celtics leaned on Garnett in the fourth quarter. He made 5-of-7 shots and scored 11 of his 15 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists, while playing the final 12 minutes. In the span of a minute midway through the quarter, he made an 18-foot jumper to cut the deficit to two on one end; then defended Jrue Holiday, altered a Louis Williams shot and grabbed the rebound on the other; and tied the game 65-65 on a turnaround in the lane back on the offensive end. In other words, he was everywhere.

“I don’t call the plays,” said Garnett. “Doc and Rondo are trying to get guys into a rhythm, trying to keep the offense flowing. That’s what it is. Whatever he asked me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”

After Kevin Garnett burned them for 29 points in Game 1, the Sixers swarmed him all night in Game 2. (AP)

Philly moved 7-foot center Spencer Hawes onto Brandon Bass, and when a hobbled Elton Brand (neck) couldn’t stop Garnett early, Philadelphia coach Doug Collins gave rookie Lavoy Allen the difficult task of both pushing the Celtics center off the block and defending his mid-range game.

“We tried to put some strength on him,” said 76ers coach Doug Collins. “We tried to take away his rhythm shots. They do such a great job of getting you strung out and throwing back to him, and all those shots he catches in rhythm he just doesn’t miss. So, really, it was trying to disrupt the efficiency and the timing just a little bit. And our guys were able to do it. … We made him work hard for his points tonight, and that was critical.”

In all likelihood, Garnett would dismiss Allen as a nobody, mainly because he is. As recent as March, he averaged only 8.6 minutes per game and was nowhere to be seen in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting. Yet, here Allen is, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, guarding Kevin Garnett.

As Evan Turner admitted, that’s no small task. “[Garnett]‘s a tough cat,” he said. “He’s hard to move. Every time you bump into him, it feels like your body gets a headache, so he’s not an easy customer or anything like that.”

What happens next? How does Rivers adjust to Collins’ adjustment? Will Garnett continue to be the C’s focal point offensively in this series? Do the Celtics need to do a better job getting him the ball? Or does Garnett just need to be more assertive? So many questions to answer in Game 3, so little time before Wednesday.

“Kevin’s a team guy,” said Rivers. “He understands his role. We want to feature him in this series. We wanted to feature him in the Atlanta series. Sometimes you go into different series, and you say, ‘This is your series.’ And this is a Kevin series, and so was the Atlanta series, so we have to feature him. Listen, Kevin can’t score if he doesn’t get the ball in the right place, and we did a poor job of doing that.”

The real question: Will Garnett let a rookie stand in the way of him and the Eastern Conference finals?

(Have a question, concern or conception for the next Irish Coffee? Send a message to @brohrbach on Twitter.)

Doc Rivers wanted to foul late in the game. (AP)

Whenever there’s a discrepancy between the shot clock and game clock, NBA teams that trail by three points or less normally will play defense and try to get a stop. That was the situation the Celtics were in on Monday night, down 76-75 with 28 seconds left in Game 2 after a Ray Allen pull-up jumper misfired.

But the Sixers had a foul to give, so coach Doc Rivers instructed Rajon Rondo to intentionally foul Evan Turner with 14.4 seconds left in the game and 10 seconds left on the shot clock (the Celtics also had a foul to give). After Paul Pierce then fouled Turner again, the Sixers guard made both free throws with 12 seconds left.

“Obviously, if they didn’t have a foul to give we would’ve played the clock out,” Rivers said. “My thinking was, it would be a four-second differential. There’s no guarantee you’re going to get the rebound. By the time you rebound it’s probably three seconds, and then they have the foul to give, so they foul and now it’s down to two seconds.”

The error the Celtics made was in not fouling earlier. They let 10 seconds burn off the clock before Rivers called for the foul.

“That’s the mistake we made,” Rivers said on the Dennis & Callahan show.

It was one of several mistakes in execution the veteran Celtics made down the stretch. Most egregious was a possession with about a minute to go and the Celtics holding a one-point lead. They were trying to get Ray Allen coming off a screen, but Avery Bradley didn’t clear the corner and the play broke down, forcing Rondo to fire up a contested jump shot from the top of the key.

“It was a play we call elbow-X. We didn’t get into it,” Rivers said. “Rondo was frustrated because we didn’t get into it the correct way. Ray really was not open because the guy in the corner didn’t clear out of the way like he’s supposed to do. It was a wasted possession at a time when you can’t have one.”

Doug Collins was happy with his young Sixers after they stole Game 2. (AP)

The 76ers came into Game 2 of their second-round series against the Celtics knowing they had let Game 1 slip through their fingers after blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. Following the disappointing loss, Doug Collins said he liked his team’s effort, remaining optimistic that the Sixers still had the chance to steal Game 2, so long as they made the appropriate adjustments in their execution down the stretch.

Game 2 on Monday night was an ugly affair, but it unfolded the same way as the series opener as the 76ers clawed their way to an eight-point advantage, 59-51, with just over 10 minutes left in regulation. Then Mickael Pietrus — who was just 2-of-15 from long distance in the playoffs going into Monday night’s game — drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Celtics within a basket.

Philly could have turtled under the pressure, but instead it flipped the script. It was the Celtics who committed consecutive turnovers, and shortly after, Andre Iguodala reversed the momentum with a mid-range jumper.

“Our young guys just keep growing and they’re really becoming men,” Collins said. “I’m so proud of them. We just found a way. … Our guys are believing they can do it, and it is pretty special to watch.”

The Sixers allowed 32 fourth-quarter points, including six 3-pointers, but their poise was noticeably different in Game 2. Philly converted all eight of its free throws in the fourth quarter, while Kevin Garnett missed the Celtics’ only attempt. Although the C’s shot 65 percent from the field in the quarter, they committed four costly turnovers, the 76ers on the other hand, only committed one.

What was most encouraging for the Sixers in their 82-81 victory was that all eight of the players who saw action in the fourth quarter scored. So much of the discussion of this series has been predicated on the lack of a pure offensive threat on the Philadelphia side, as opposed to the Celtics, who boast four perennial All-Stars on their roster. For the Sixers, there was strength in numbers.

Though, it should be noted, a few breaks seemed to go the Sixers way, including Lavoy Allen‘s 22-foot bank shot as the 24-second shot clock was expiring to break a tie with just over four minutes left. Evan Turner also hit an impressive driving layup that would prove to be the game-winning basket. Finally, Garnett was called for a moving screen with 10 seconds left that took the ball out of the C’s hands with a chance to tie, essentially sealing the game for the 76ers.

“They made some tough shots when we needed to get some stops,” Paul Pierce said. “The made a shot with [less than a second] left on the shot clock. Turner made a couple difficult layups. That’s the part of the game where we’ve really got to make stops.”

Said Doc Rivers: “We put ourselves in that position. And when you do that, if you win the game, great, you won the game. If you lose the game, you deserve to lose the game, too, because you put yourself in that position.”

Kevin Garnett set a moving screen. He knows it. You know it. And referee Michael Smith knows it.

The only possible question is whether Smith should have called Garnett for it, what with 10 seconds remaining, the Celtics trailing by three and Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on the line.

“I just thought in that situation you let the players decide the game,” said Garnett, whose illegal pick overshadowed an inspired fourth quarter in the 82-81 loss, “but if he felt like that was an illegal pick, then that’s what it is.”

It’s the kind of play that can and should be argued at bars all over Boston. Those wearing green-colored glasses swear it should have never been called — not then, when a whistle sways a conference semifinals series.

“I wasn’t fond of it. At all,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, whose team travels to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Wednesday. “You know, I think Kevin got called for three off-the-ball offensive fouls. So clearly it looked like they were looking for it all night and they got three of them. If you’re going to tell me Kevin was the only one moving in picks tonight, then I’ll live with that. He clearly was not the only one, but he was the one who got the calls tonight.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers "wasn't fond of" the offensive foul called on Kevin Garnett. (AP)

Without wearing leprechaun leggings, the rational fan admits a foul is a foul, regardless of the situation. After all, referee Dan Crawford already had warned Garnett about his screen-setting earlier in the game.

“I’m not going to make a big stink about it,” KG said. “Danny had already given me a warning about how I was setting the picks. I’m going to continue to set picks. I’m going to continue to get guys open. That wasn’t, to me, the game. We did things going up to that point in determining the game.”

Heck, not even the 76ers could decide whether the whistle should have been blown or not.

“I was surprised he called it, to tell you the truth,” said Evan Turner, who was defending the weak side. “I was like, ‘Yo, what happened? What’s going on?’ They called that foul, and I was like, ‘Wow, somebody’s going to be mad.’ ”

“I think that was a foul,” countered Sixers teammate Elton Brand. “It’s been called late in the regular season, so to see it late in the regular season, it was what it was.”

At least we can all agree on something. As Garnett said, “That’s what it is.” And so the Celtics head to Philadelphia on Wednesday hoping to snatch homecourt advantage back from the Sixers — with a pissed-off Garnett in tow.

Given the fact that the Celtics trailed the Sixers in the Atlantic Division for most of the season before catching them at the end and pulling away to a fifth straight division crown, everyone in Boston knew coming into this series that Philly was not going to be cream cheese or cheesesteak.

It was going to be a war, just like in the 60s and 80s, when the two archrivals battled tooth-and-nail for every loose ball and every point.

Well, two games in, two one-point decisions, one for each team.

“That’s the playoffs,” Rajon Rondo said after the 82-81 decision claimed by the Sixers Monday night in Game 2. “It’s up and down. You’re not going to win 16 straight games so. Give them Philly a lot of credit. They are not a pushover team. They’re in the second round for a reason. Like I’ve said this is a tough series.”

Tough is one thing. Ugly is another, and more likely how Celtics fans would describe a game that had Boston score 25 points in the first quarter and just 56 the rest of the way. The Celtics started the game shooting 50 percent (11-for-22) in the first quarter. They made just 22 of their final 57, finishing at 42 percent for the game. They had 19 turnovers. Philly had 18.

“We made some plays but they won,” Rondo said. “We give them credit. Basketball is a game of rhythms… a game of runs. We made our runs, and then they made their runs.”

And Rondo never got on one himself. Which is essentially the reason the Sixers won and the Celtics lost. Rondo finished with eight points and 13 assists on 4-of-12 shooting in over 38 minutes of action. The Sixers were more physical Monday, both with Kevin Garnett (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Rondo.

Except for Game 2 against the Hawks, the 2012 playoffs for the Celtics have been about two players and two players only – Garnett and Rondo. The Sixers seemed to find somewhat of a management plan, if not a control button on Monday. And that plan involved two words: Get physical.

From the onset, the Sixers were determined to get a body on Garnett at every turn and get in Rondo’s face. Though Rondo did have six assists in the first quarter, he had just seven the rest of the way.

Rondo was asked if what could have been done to get Garnett more involved.

“Nothing really, KG is an unselfish player. He could have taken a lot more shots than he did,” Rondo said of Garnett’s 7-of-12 night from the field.

After struggling offensively for the first three quarters, Kevin Garnett willed himself and the Celtics back into a game they trailed by as much as eight in the fourth — but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 76ers in an 82-81 loss.

Garnett scored 11 of his 15 points and grabbed four of his 12 boards in the fourth quarter, and Avery Bradley and Ray Allen made back-to-back 3-pointers to snare leads of 72-71 and 75-74 in the final 2:20, but Philadelphia executed too well, and Garnett committed a costly moving screen with 10 seconds left and the C’s trailing by three.

Allen’s 17 points led the Celtics in scoring, and Rajon Rondo finished with 13 assists. Jrue Holiday led the 76ers with 18 points, and Evan Turner scored six huge points in the fourth quarter, as the Sixers evened the Eastern Conference semifinals on their way home for Wednesday’s Game 3.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Settling down: As quickly as the Celtics built a 9-0 lead in the first quarter, the Sixers erased it. A whopping 14 of their first 17 shots came outside of 10 feet, cutting the lead to 15-13 midway through the first quarter and tying it 25-25 46 seconds into the second. A whopping 13 of the C’s first 17 shot attempts came from 10 feet and beyond, thanks in part to Rondo passing up open layups for the possibility of an assist on a jump shot from his teammates.

Shouldering the load: Bradley reinjured his oft dislocated shoulder when Sixers forward Elton Brand blocked his shot attempt. While Allen replaced Bradley in the lineup, the Celtics missed the 21-year-old’s quickness defending Philadelphia’s young backcourt. At halftime, Bradley owned the C’s best plus/minus (plus-13), while Allen had their worst (minus-12). Meanwhile, Sixers guard Holiday scored 13 first-half points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Center of attention: Just as the C’s backcourt defense suffered without Bradley, their entire defensive effort struggled without Garnett in the lineup. The Celtics built a 15-7 in Garnett’s first five minutes on the floor, and the Sixers outscore them 13-8 over the next five minutes. And so went every five-minute interval. The worst stretch came in the third quarter, when the 76ers turned a 43-40 deficit into a 51-47 lead with Garnett on the bench, taking momentum into the fourth quarter.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Three party: After making just 2-of-13 3-point attempts (13.3 3P%) over his first seven playoff games, Pietrus came through when the Celtics needed him most. He made back-to-back treys in the span of 51 seconds to bring a Celtics team trailing 59-53 and reeling for much of the second half back from the dead. His triples cut the lead to 61-59 and awoke the C’s crowd. Perhaps his driving layup 18 seconds after taking the floor for the first time in the opening quarter set the tone.

Starting nine: Despite playing in front of a half empty TD Garden due to the 7 p.m. tipoff, the Celtics built a 9-0 lead on 4-for-4 shooting over the first 2:08 (holding 76ers to 0-5 FG). Garnett got the game started on an 11-footer, Bradley buried a 3-pointer from the corner and Brandon Bass dropped a couple jumpers of his own. Pierce, Rondo and Bradley all picked up assists on those field goals, and the C’s ball movement looked sharp early.

Fishing for Bass: After Garnett’s 29-point explosion in Game 1, Sixers coach Doug Collins switched Spencer Hawes onto Bass as Elton Brand defended KG. So the Celtics simply turned to Bass (12 points), who knocked down his first two attempts. While he shot just 5-of-15 from the field, the Celtics — and Rondo in particular — made a concerted effort to get the struggling forward involved, and that should pay dividends going forward.