You can't just walk into Amway Arena expecting to win

The Celtics' three-game cage match started last night in Orlando and things looked great as Boston built a 16-point lead on the Magic.

Sadly this was just a prelude for an epic choke job in the fourth quarter that was capped off by Rashard Lewis' (game-high 23 points) layup with 1.3 seconds remaining.

Boston (29-14) had a great look at the buzzer but Rasheed Wallace (17 points) airballed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Orlando (30-16) held on for the 96-94 win that the C's completely pissed away.

On the night that they were named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, Paul Pierce (12 points) and Rajon Rondo (11 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) didn't submit their best games by any means.

Spurred by Rasheed and 10 points from Eddie House, Boston's bench scored a season-high 41 points but it still wasn't enough to make up for subpar games from Kevin Garnett (6 points, 7 rebounds) and Kendrick Perkins (4 points, 3 rebounds).

Ray Allen was the only Celtic with what could be termed a nice stat line of 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

Dwight Howard had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Magic while Jameer Nelson scored 12 and J.J. Redick had 11 off the bench (including a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter).

It should not have come to that since Boston led 34-23 after the first quarter and 51-40 at the half. They still held the 11-point lead going into the fourth (62-51).

After it was over, Inside the NBA, which is by far the best NBA coverage, said that the Big Three had been 86-0 in games that they went into the fourth quarter with double-digit leads. So there is that.

The numbers indicated a close game since the C's made six more threes (12-6) but the Magic converted many more free throws (26-12). Orlando was also beastly on the boards (47-32), which is particularly surprising since Howard didn't go crazy and finally Boston was much more unselfish (22-8 assists).

I'd love to see the Celtics put it behind them and play great in Atlanta tonight but as I've said earlier in the season, nobody in the NBA has the Celtics' number or matches up with them as well as the Hawks. In the ATL on the second night of a back-to-back against Eastern Conference contenders makes the challenge that much tougher.

I'll take this starting five over anybody else's

It's a very big if, since they're aging faster than the Jonas Brothers, but when the Boston Celtics' starting five is healthy and on the court, I like their chances against anybody else in the NBA.

After losing three straight, the C's got KG back and no surprise, won their second consecutive game last night 95-89 over the Clippers.

It wasn't a pretty win since the game was delayed multiple times because of a slippery court (somewhere Red is smiling) but it was nice to get some revenge after the Celts lost in LA a few weeks ago on Baron Davis's buzzer-beater.

The defensive presence that Garnett brings is immeasurable but something which is not talked about ad-nauseum with him is how much he opens up the passing game for Boston offensively.

Paul Pierce led Boston (29-13) with a game-high 22 points, Garnett added 17 points and Rajon Rondo notched 16 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Ray Allen scored 15 and Kendrick Perkins posted nine points and 15 rebounds.

The Clippers (20-24) had six guys in double figures but nobody went off. Rasual Butler (who was a Celtic for about a minute) led LA with 17 points, Davis had 16 points and seven assists, Al Thornton added 12 points and Chris Kaman had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Former BC star Craig Smith (who could be a good NBA player if he got consistent minutes) scored 13 points off the bench and former Celtic bozo Ricky Davis added 12 points and two blunts smoked on the bench.

The Clippers led 19-17 after the first quarter and 44-43 at the half. Reversing their recent trend, the C's played well in the third quarter (21-15) and made enough plays in the fourth (31-30) to hold off the talented but helter skelter Clippers.

After a couple days of practice, Boston embarks on what I would nominate for the toughest four day stretch in the NBA this season: at Orlando on Thursday, at Atlanta on Friday and home against the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. They also go to the Wizards on Monday but we won't count that (please don't shoot me Gilbert, I'm just playing).

Will the Bruins ever win another game?

At this point, I'm just glad that I don't cover the Boston Bruins for a living. Those must be some (even more than usual) miserable sportswriters right about now.

The B's (23-18-8) rapid death spiral continued last night at the TD Garden as they lost 3-2 to the equally terrible but still more spunky Columbus Blue Jackets (20-24-9), 3-2.

Milan Lucic is finally starting to look himself, he had a great fight in the first period with Columbus tough guy Jared Boll, but his high sticking double minor late in the third (which was a bum call) turned into the deciding play.

Obviously you can't give a great team like the Blue Jackets a power-play opportunity like that as they cashed in when R.J. Umberger (outstanding name) tipped one in with 1:16 left.

Boston can't catch any sort of break at this point. They were up 1-0 in the first when Michael Ryder made one of his bi-weekly appearances with a goal 2:11 in from Trent Whitfield and Miroslav Satan.

Former Washington captain Chris Clark tied it up in the first period but the Bruins once again took the lead in the second period when Patrice Bergeron's long distance wrist shot found the back of the net. Daniel Paille and Zdeno Chara assisted.

Umberger had an earlier goal waved off in the second period (would have tied it at 2-2) since he kicked it in. Nice try Pele. Ultimately it didn't matter though since Antoine Vermette tied it in the third and then Umberger broke Bruins' fans black hearts with the late goal.

Tukkaa Rask (10-6-2) had 22 saves in the loss but as I've said all season long, goaltending is the least of Boston's worries.

The Bruins host Ottawa tomorrow afternoon in the teams' final meeting of the season.

It's a good thing these games don't really matter

Yuck. The Celtics choked away a twelve-point lead last night at the Palace and lost to the woeful Pistons 92-86.

It was Boston's (27-13) third consecutive loss and the fifth in their last seven games. This was maybe the worst loss of the season so far since Detroit (15-26)-who recently lost 13 games in a row-is just an awful team, there's no way around it.

The centerpiece of the rebuilding Pistons is Rodney Stuckey and the 50 Cent look-alike has some game: he scored a game-high 27 points, with 11 rebounds and six assists.

Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points off the bench for Detroit while Jason Maxiell and Richard Hamilton scored 12 points apiece.

Paul Pierce got off to a hot start with 17 points in the first quarter but he was held to four points the rest of the way. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

In his big return to Detroit Rock City, Rasheed Wallace tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals but he didn't make any plays down the stretch when the Pistons started to run away with it.

The most interesting part of the game was Big Baby swearing at a clown Detroit fan that was courtside. It's good to see that Davis has really grown up since his injury at the start of the season.

(Fingers crossed) Kevin Garnett is supposed to return tomorrow night for the C's as they host the underrated Trailblazers. Portland star Brandon Roy is banged up with a hamstring injury so his status is probably up in the air too.

PJ Brown is rolling over in his grave

It doesn't take a haughty degree from Harvard or M.I.T to figure out the formula for success for the Celtics. Without KG, they're pretenders; with KG, they're one of the NBA's best teams and a championship contender.

As Kevin Garnett sat out his eighth straight game, the Dallas Mavericks came into the TD Garden last night and beat the Celtics 99-90 behind 37 points from Dirk Nowitzki.

It was Boston's (27-12) third consecutive loss at home as they continue to play better on the road than at home (better road beef?).

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points, Ray Allen scored 21, Kendrick Perkins had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo notched 12 assists. Rasheed Wallace added 11 points but when he got in foul trouble, the game shifted in Dallas' (27-14) favor.

The ageless and hairless Jason Kidd had 13 points and 17 assists, Shawn Marion added 16 points and eight rebounds, Erick Dampier scored 11 and Drew Gooden had 10 points off the bench.

The C's were up 25-20 after one quarter and 50-41 at the half but once Wallace went out in the third quarter, Glen Davis and Brian Scalabrine were forced to cover Nowitzki, advantage Mavericks.

Dallas outscored Boston 34-18 in the third and they pushed the lead to as much as 18 points in the fourth while Boston didn't have any type of comeback in them.

Dallas shot 57.4% for the game to Boston's 50.6%. The Celts continue to struggle at the line (8 for 16) while the Mavs (17 for 24) did enough to win.

With KG's possible return looming on Friday vs. the Blazers, the Celts have a very winnable game tomorrow night in Detroit against a garbage Pistons team. A blowout would be just what the Doc (Rivers) ordered.

Watching the Bruins slide back to complete irrelevance

It's not hard to pinpoint why the Bruins have struggled so much lately: they've had a ridiculous amount of injuries to numerous vital players. This is not a worthy excuse though; in professional sports, every team has injuries.

The lineup reconfigurations and Providence call-ups have not done anything to stop the ship from sinking as Boston lost 5-1 to Ottawa yesterday afternoon at the TD Garden, their fifth loss in their last sixth games.

It's hard to rank defeats but yesterday's lifeless effort was at the top of that invisible but still dubious list.

Ottawa (25-21-4) scored two in the second, two in the third and one in the third to chase Tim Thomas (6 saves, 3 goals allowed). Putting Tukkaa Rask (15 saves, 2 goals allowed) in goal didn't provide any spark since he can't help the pathetic group of forwards currently skating for the B's (23-17-8).

Boston had beaten Ottawa all four times they had played before yesterday but now the Senators are tied with them with 54 points and they they seem to be getting better heading into the teams' final meeting on Saturday back at the Garden.

Daniel Alfredsson had a hat trick for Ottawa and Mike Fisher had three assists. Daniel Paille prevented the shutout with a goal in the third period which cut it to 4-1 Senators.

A still hobbled (broken thumb) Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup but Steve Begin, Marco Sturm and Byron Bitz didn't play due to various maladies.

The Bruins have today off before practice tomorrow and then the Columbus Blue Jackets come to Boston on Thursday night.

A season that started off with such high expectations (since they had the most points in the Eastern Conference last season) is quickly devolving into a battle with futility. At this point, the Olympic break can't come soon enough for this team.

It's too bad nobody saw this gem of a win

Without a doubt, I'm sure the only people in New England that saw the Bruins' thrilling 2-1 shootout win in San Jose last night were me, a few of my friends, hopeless alcoholics, drug addicts, strip club owners and bartenders. And that's a shame because wins like this, especially with the current hand they've been dealt, are rare indeed for the B's.

Tim Thomas played like the Vezina trophy winner of last season, stopping a season-high 41 shots, Zdeno Chara scored the only goal in the shootout and for one night, you could forget that we use to have Joe Thornton (a future MVP) and then we shipped him away for a bag of pucks and some broken sticks.

Daniel Paille gave Boston (23-16-7) a 1-0 lead in the second period after an assist from Shawn Thornton. San Jose (30-10-8) defenseman Rob Blake had the rebound of Paille's shot go off his skate and past Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov (30 saves).

It didn't take San Jose long to tie it as Thornton stuffed in a rebound, assisted by Dany Heatley and Boyle.

After a scoreless but very exciting third period and overtime session, it went to a shootout which Chara solved by cranking a slap shot from 10 feet away.

If the Bruins can manage at least a point tomorrow afternoon vs. the Kings, it'll be a .500 West Coast road trip. Joy.