Can We Take a Punch?

Doc Rivers is fond of saying that the Celtics breezed through a turmoiless regular season last year before stumbling in the first round of the playoffs.

That won't be a problem this year.

At the end of the day, I'm a bottom line guy. Did the Celtics win the game? Did they hoist a banner? How many championships do we have? How many does the other guy have?

But, like the players, Celtics fans look for ways to keep themselves motivated, keep themselves engaged at a high level throughout the drudgery of an 82-game season.

On this front, I'll be watching to see how the Celtics respond to getting smacked in the nose twice by the Lakers. Paul Pierce is the captain for a reason. He can take a punch. At his core, he's a street fighter.

Let's see how fast our leader can get his teammates over these two losses and on to the business of the day: fighting for homecourt and becoming a team that has a puncher's chance at winning a game on the road against Cleveland in the playoffs.