The playoff fate of the 2009-10 Boston Celtics remains very much in doubt.

But after Tuesday, two things seem to be clear when you consider how the rest of this postseason will play out for the Celtics.

Glen Davis will play a major role.

And Rasheed Wallace will not.

It kind of seems hard to believe that "Which guy should start for KG?" was ever even a debate, doesn't it? With apologies to Ray Allen (who put on a shooting display in the third quarter that rivals any I can remember from a Celtics player in the playoffs), it was Davis that earned First Star honors in the 106-77 humiliation of the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Just how big (forgive the pun) a factor was he? 

Well, with 8:37 left in the third quarter he had 17 points, or as many as Dwyane Wade, Jermaine O'Neal and Quentin Richardson-Laimbeer combined. 

Big Baby threw a circa 2008 Garnett 23-8 line at the Heat, while shutting down Michael Beasley when it mattered (Beasley was 6-of-14 from the field, with most of his points coming during Geno Time.) And he brought his usual law firm of Energy, Energy and Energy to the court, simply out-hustling the front line of the Heat. 

OK, O'Neal blocked four of Davis' shots in the first quarter (Davis was on pace for the rarest of triple-doubles at halftime -- 28 points, 12 boards and having 10 of his shots rejected) but, like Duke once said about Rocky, the man just kept coming after him. So what? Is he going to pout? You think Davis isn't used to having his shot sent back in his face? He doesn't care. Just puts his head down and gets to the basket.

"One man impacted the game with just his effort," said Heat coach Eric Spoelstra of Davis after the game. "I'd be shocked if they have one play for him in the playbook."

He has plenty of faults as a player but one thing can be written with certainty about Glen Davis. When he's on the court, he never stops working. 

And I'm not sure that Rasheed Wallace, as a member of the Celtics, ever started to work.

(Oh, and this isn't just a working hard vs. coasting issue. On April 21 2010 Glen Davis is a better basketball player than Rasheed Wallace. Now if both put forward the same amount of effort I think things would be different. But you and I know that isn't going to happen. When I watch Davis I'm reminded of an old Pat Riley quote. He was talking about what Kurt Rambis brought to the Lakers and said "Hustle. And hustle is a talent." It's true. Guys, for the most part, either fall into the "hustle" or "coast" groups. Not often you see someone go back and forth.)

I feel like an absolute dope -- I actually bought into the idea that Rasheed would look at this game as his chance to salvage a lost year and help a franchise that he has stolen $6 million from this season. 

And I had serious doubts -- even after some nice moments in Game 1 -- that Davis would be able to score inside against the Heat defense. 

So I was on the Start 'Sheed train. Seemed logical enough, right?

All I did was fail to account for the little things. You know, stuff you would never think of unless you had a basketball IQ of 250. Mind-altering questions such as: Who plays better defense? Who is willing to fight through a pick-and-roll? Who is willing to actually post a player up and get to the basket? (Big Baby attempted 11 free throws on Tuesday night. You know how many times 'Sheed attempted more than SIX free throws in a game this year? That would be zippo. Way to get the old hands dirty.) Who is going to actually box out when a shot is in the air? Who is willing to dive on the floor for a loose ball? Who will take a charge? And finally, which guy will, you know, care that it's the playoffs?

Rasheed Wallace played Game 2 as if he was an autopilot version of the guy that has played on autopilot all year. It didn't seem to me that he could even muster up the energy to get to the level of apathy that he has brought to the Celtics this season.

Missed jumpers? Of course. A (at best) half-hearted attempt to run out and contest a Mario Chalmers three-pointer? You bet. How about a technical foul, just to complete the 2009-10 trifecta of momentum killers? Done and done.

"Rasheed is a bona-fide All-Star," asserted Davis in his post-game press conference.

Really? He played 21:16 in a game the Celtics won by 29 points and somehow managed to end up with a plus/minus rating of -12. Not easy to pull off. When he entered the game with 4:03 left in the first quarter the Celtics led by a score of 15-10. When he left the game with an, uh, middle body injury the Heat led by a score of 29-25. It was at that exact point-- starting the moment Wallace left the court-- that the Celtics went on a 21-0 run that pretty much took all the life out of the Heat. 

A run that included eight points from Glen Davis. 

We can safely move Wallace from the "still hoping he might give us something" to the "complete and utter misfire" category now. It's not going to happen. He's not suddenly going to turn into the player he was only two years ago (14th in MVP voting), or the missing piece to this team's title hopes. It's possible that in addition to the obvious lack of effort, Wallace has been blasted with David Ortiz syndrome and has suffered massive skill erosion. Hey, he's not 26 years old. 

Am I suggesting that Rasheed Wallace will not see the court again in the postseason? No. But I think that he's clearly fallen behind Davis on the depth chart. And with Garnett and Perkins ahead of both of them I just don't see Wallace logging a significant number of meaningful minutes in any game for the rest of the season. 

No, he has lost the battle to Big Baby. 

Turns out that hard work might pay off after all.