Celtics face pressure situation tonight

Nobody said this was going to be easy for the Boston Celtics. Following what some people are calling the greatest playoff series in the history of the NBA, the Celtics came out flat, uninspired, bored, tired, lazy, and defenseless against the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Falling behind by as many as 28 points on their home court, the Green appeared to be done, and really, who could blame them? The injuries have been all too well documented; then there are the tired legs of the Celtics’ remaining stars. What is a team to do when it is out of gas, and out of options?Coach Doc Rivers wasn’t buying the excuses, defiantly telling the media, “There was no fatigue, I don’t believe in that. We had a whole day off. We aren’t making any excuses. We played flat. We played with no energy in the first half. Obviously, I’ve got to do something to get them going better. But we’ve got to be better than that to start a game.”Center Kendrick Perkins blamed the slow start on a lack of focus.”We weren’t locked in, focused from the shootaround,” he said. “From the time we walked into the building, there was a lot of laughing. There was a lot of joking around before the game. We weren’t really locked in.”What the Celtics did manage to accomplish was something that may in fact have saved this series and their season. Somehow Gang Green reached deeper than they have had to reach all season and mounted a furious comeback, closing to within three. Sure, there is no such thing as a moral victory, but on Monday night the Celtics found something that they had been missing through the first two and a half quarters of play: Their heart. Make no mistake about it, this Celtics team is a tired bunch, and it is not their fault; they have every built-in excuse. A short off-season, injuries, age and fatigue, just to name a few, but you will not hear any of these players speak of any excuses, nor will they use excuses as a crutch.Heading into tonight’s Game Two of this best-of-seven series, the Celtics find themselves in a must-win situation. If there is one thing we have learned about this particular group of Celtics, it is that they perform at their best when their backs are against the wall. Rajon Rondo said that winning is not rocket science; the Celtics simply need to play better.”We just have to get out to a better start,” he said. “We don’t even have to be leading, but we have to play better.”If the Celtics don’t play better tonight, they will find themselves in a very unfamiliar situation, looking for excuses as to why their season was cut short.