They'll turn it on in the second half. They'll flip the switch.
And they usually did. Rajon Rondo would pick up the pace in transition, and the defense would buckle down. Especially against lesser teams, Boston could put it in cruise-controll through the first two quarters before mounting seemingly effortless runs in the latter two. I know some fans who wouldn't turn on Celtics games until the third quarter. Why bother?
But Sunday night was a different beast in a different time — a time in which Boston had appeared to have lost its ability to "flip the switch." It's no wonder the TD Garden went silent (and the blogosphere erupted with panic) as the C's fell behind 51-39 in the postseason opener to the Knicks.
That fear wasn't with Celtics Nation earlier this season. Indeed, much of the 2010-11 regular season was not unlike the others in the Big Three era. The Green allowed teams like Milwaukee (Nov. 3) or Memphis (Nov. 13) to push them to overtime, then shrugged, gathered a head of steam and finished strong.
All that was before Feb. 24, a day Danny Ainge is desperately hoping doesn't live in infamy. Kendrick Perkins was shipped to Oklahoma City (along with a string of other moves), while Shaquille O'Neal (still out) and Jermaine O'Neal (returned March 31) remained sidelined.
The C's lost badly that same night to Denver, rattled off five straight wins against non-playoff teams and then collapsed. They dropped 11 of their last 21, and worst of all, they seemingly lost that uncanny ability to turn it on when it counts.
In fact, they were almost worse with the game on the line. Against Philadelphia on March 11, the Green managed just 18 points in the fourth quarter, losing by three. Three nights later, the lowly New Jersey Nets mounted a third-quarter comeback and again Boston couldn't answer, scoring 18 in the final frame en route to another embarrassing loss.
They kept trying to flip the switch. And it kept short-circuiting.
Sunday it all came together. Down 55-43 with nine minutes to go in the third, Boston turned the tide. Jermaine scored six straight unanswered points (two of those buckets were jumpers), and the comeback was on. By the nine minute mark of the fourth, the C's led 66-64 — a 23-9 run in 12 minutes of play.
From there, the Knicks proved they can hang, mounting a mini-spurt of their own (on the back of 12 fourth-quarter points from Amare Stoudemire) to regain an 80-75 edge. But yet again, Boston found an extra gear, finishing the game as they have so many times before — with a Ray Allen 3.
It's unclear what allowed the C's to once again catch lightning in a bottle. Maybe they really were waiting for the playoffs to fully exert themselves.
Or maybe three straight days of intense practice before the series allowed the new-look club to jell. They certainly seemed to communicate better on defense Sunday night (in the second half, that is).
And it certainly helped that J.O. finally provided the low-post defensive presence that had been missing since the Perkins trade. Heck, the guy had four blocks, at least that many redirections, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.
"I've got to say — Jermaine O'Neal tonight, we won the game because of Jermaine O'Neal," Doc Rivers said after the game. "His defense, his presence, his shot-blocking, his rebounding, his toughness. And he did it in both halves. He was absolutely wonderful."
Perhaps it was a little bit of everything that helped Boston get back its mojo.
Whatever it was, it might very well have been a season-defining moment. I say "might" because it's evident that the Celtics can't continue to dig deep holes in the first half and trust that they'll climb out. They've got to focus on bringing Sunday's second-half intensity for a complete 48 minutes.
But it's a major step forward — or a step, I guess, back to the future. A potential rediscovery of the magic of the 2008 and 2010 playoffs, and the moment at which Boston took back control of that proverbial switch.
