A win is win, you take it every time. But sometimes, a win can be concerning for future games if things don't seem to click like they should. Listen to the comments by the players and coaches and you can feel that concern.
Despite the Knicks losing 2 of their top 3 players in game 2, the Celtics needed some late game heroics to secure the win. One of the biggest issues (and one that has been an issue with this team for a long time) is the rebounds.
The Knicks outrebounded the Celtics to a tune of 53 - 37. Even worse, the C's gave up 20 offensive rebounds (and managed just 9 themselves). As Paul Flannery of WEEI points out, this is a big reason why the Knicks were still in the game despite shooting just 35% from the floor.
Now Dwight Howard is not walking through that door. Glen Davis isn't going to grow 4 inches overnight. This leopard is not going to change its spots any time soon and rebounds will not come easy to this group. (Though getting Shaq back would help, but we've already covered that topic and then some) With that said, Doc thinks that there are some tweaks that can help.
Game 3 Keys: Get a rebound - WEEI | Paul Flannery
Celtics coach Doc Rivers put some of it on dribble penetration, but the bigger problem has been their help defense. "We’re helping but we’re not trapping and when the shot’s go up we’re just turning and going to the glass," Rivers said. "That means the guy who was in help, there’s no one on his guy’s body. We showed that. That was our first 17 [film] clips."
The bottom line is that this team can play better and I think they will. They are in a great position because they didn't play that well and still hold a 2 game advantage. Still, that doesn't mean that they can't learn from the mistakes that they've made thus far and do what they can to improve upon them.
Bonus Link: NBA.com's look ahead