LA’s timing bad for Celtics

The road has gotten so rocky for the Celtics [team stats] these days that it’s hard to truly enjoy the trappings of a Lakers game.

Meetings with their far coast rival generally have been like a reunion of Rhodes Scholars, celebrating both the past and the present. It was a time to compete and dream of a rematch in the postseason.

But the Celts have more immediate wounds that need attention.

Cue former NFL coach Jim Mora: “Playoffs? Playoffs? We’re just trying to win a game.”

“We’ve got to get ourselves right,” Paul Pierce [stats] said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.”

That it’s the Lakers, the defending NBA champions and best team in the Western Conference, makes that task infinitely more difficult.

Or as Kevin Garnett put it after Friday’s loss in Atlanta, “Well, I know if we come anything less than great we’re going to get our (butt) kicked.”

The Celtics gave a game away in Orlando on Thursday and simply got beaten by the Hawks, which may be more frightening for Shamrock concerns. They are struggling with their self-image and now face a team that can expose flaws like a high-definition camera at an AARP convention.

“But it’s still good to play the Lakers,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Maybe that’ll help us. It’s always fun to play the Lakers.”

But the Celtics haven’t been having much fun lately. In 13 January games, they’ve been outscored in the fourth quarter 10 times with one tie. They talk about the need to play a full 48 minutes, but clearly they have been running out of gas before the finish line.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” said Pierce, looking at poor performances against contenders. “We’ve got the Lakers coming in (today), so we feel like it’s a must win.

“These are teams we’re going to see in the playoffs, so we’re giving them a psychological edge right now. It’s not something where you’re going to just be able to turn it on once the playoffs start. You know, we’ve got to start turning it around right now.”

Rajon Rondo [stats] got a taste of the Celtics-Lakers thing in the 2008 Finals, but approaching just his 24th birthday, he finds it hard to relate too deeply.

“Nah,” he said, “I wasn’t really born when all the history was made. For me this game is just as big as playing Orlando or Atlanta.

“This is another game for us. Each game is big for us right now. It started with the Clippers (last) week. It’s been a tough week for us.”

Glen Davis is nearly two months older though rarely wiser, but he understands the different views of this afternoon.

“It’s Lakers and Celtics [team stats], so that means it’s always a big game right there,” he said. “But right now we’re really just focused on trying to play better and get a win. We really don’t care who it’s against right now.

“So this is a huge game, but every game’s huge. The guys before us made this a huge rivalry, and it’s been fun being a part of it for me. But right now we’re focused on getting ourselves where we need to be.”

Pierce knows that, too, but he’s a little close to the Celtics-Lakers tango. Moments after talking about the Hawks and saying rivalries are a media creation, he acknowledged that they can go a bit further.

“It’s always a big deal when the Celtics play the Lakers,” he said. “It is for me, because that rivalry is something that got me into basketball. Watching the Celtics and the Lakers made me want to be a player, so it’s always a big deal.

“You know, Lakers fans hate the Celtics and Celtics fans hate the Lakers. You don’t really see that with other pro teams except for baseball with Boston and New York. The Celtics and Lakers fans are really into it, and that makes this special. Hey, I’ve been both of them.”

Today he would just like to be on a team that plays with energy and intelligence for a full game.