As satisfying as the opening night win was for Celtics fans and everyone else who despised the new-look Miami Heat (read: just about everyone else on the planet), this one was better.
This was a game the Heat were supposed to win. They had come off 48 hours of withering, unrelenting criticism with Chris Bosh serving as the inevitable punch line.
The Celtics? They’re too old, and too savvy, to play into the big regular-season game hype. It didn’t help matters that they were down one O’Neal brother (Jermaine) and were banking on the return of a rusty Shaq to help hold down the middle.
But if the pregame signs pointed in Miami’s direction, once the ball was actually tipped it was clear that the Celtics had come to play. The signature moment of the game happened early when Rajon Rondo flew down a wide-open lane and hammered down a monster dunk while Bosh watched passively. 
There were other signs as well: Kevin Garnett was everywhere, grabbing rebounds he wouldn’t have even dreamed of corralling last season. The Celtics were careful with the ball and avoided their usual array of careless turnovers. Then there was Ray Allen who simply could not miss.
Allen made seven of his first eight 3-point attempts and finished with a season-high 35 points. The Celtics shot a sizzling 60 percent in the first half against one of the NBA’s best defensive teams and while there were some anxious moments at the end, they had more than enough for a 112-107 victory.
The focus may have been on the Heat nationally, but the Celtics used the opportunity to reassert what they are all about. Teamwork, passing, trust. These are their hallmarks and they stood in stark contrast to the hilarious, but unseemly, images of Pat Riley jotting down notes and staring blankly at what was unfolding on the court.
The win puts the Celtics at 7-2 on the young season and they are off to the requisite strong start that Doc Rivers asked of them during camp. They have proven that last year’s playoff run was not a fluke, or an example of catching lightning in a bottle.
They have also proven, at least for now, that the Heat are nowhere near their equal. The 2007-08 Celtics didn’t lose their fourth game until Jan. 9 of that season, which should serve as another reminder of that special season.
Maybe the Celtics made it look too easy, or maybe they were (and are) just that good. Whatever the case, this night belonged to the Celtics, and it was owned by Allen, which is where we’ll begin.
RAY ALLEN DOESN’T HAVE SHOOTING SLUMPS
We go through this every year, and no doubt we will again at some point. Allen will have a couple of sub-par shooting nights and everyone will wonder again if his time is finally coming to an end.
And every year, Allen will adjust his shooting sleeve and continue to do what he does. Namely make shots.
Allen went 6-for-25 from beyond the arc during a four-game stretch, but that’s the price of doing business when you’re Ray Allen.  Since then, he’s made 14 of 23 3-pointers and he was absolutely unconscious against the Heat.
The beautiful thing about Allen’s night (other than his defense on Dwyane Wade, who scored just eight points) was that he did it in the flow of the offense. The Celtics identified him as the hot shooter and kept feeding him the ball. This is the primary difference between them and Miami.
The Heat almost snuck back into the game, thanks to an insane second-half by LeBron James, who pumped in 35 points of his own. But most of James’ offense came when he simply charged up the floor and went one-on-everybody.
That’s the way he’s played his entire career when it’s time to take over, but you got the sense that the rest of his Miami teammates were simply bystanders in his one-man crusade.
The Celtics on the other hand, rode Allen for as long as he could carry them and then turned it over to Paul Pierce who scored an almost-quiet 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting.
Unlike the Heat, there is rarely concern on the Boston side about who should assert themselves and, more importantly, if the rest of the lineup is along for the ride. For most of the night it was Allen who got the big baskets, but this was a team thing as evidenced by the most telling stat of the night.
In the first half, Allen, Pierce and Garnett were 16-for-21 from the floor. Bosh, James and Wade were 9-for-22. The Celtics generally play with this level of cohesion, but they took it to another level on this night.
IT’S PAST TIME TO SAY IT: KG IS BACK
This is not the Kevin Garnett we saw last season. It’s not even the Garnett we saw throughout most of the 2008-09 season. This is something entirely different.
We heard rumblings and whispers about Garnett reclaiming his old form during training camp, but without visual evidence it was best to take those words with a rather large grain of salt. He looked good in the preseason, but that’s preseason.
Since the game have begun for real again, Garnett has looked athletic, bouncy even, and oh so maniacal when the ball is in the air. A few weeks ago, Rivers noted that Garnett was rebounding in space. That he wasn’t just waiting for the ball to come his way. He was actively going out and grabbing it.
Garnett had 16 rebounds against the Heat, the sixth time in nine games that he’s recorded double-digit rebounds. He also logged 37 minutes, marking the fifth time in nine outings that he’s gone over the 35-minute mark.
Can he keep this up? That’s the unfortunate question that has to be asked because the Celtics, frankly, need every minute they can get out of him right now.
BIG MAN SHORTAGE
Jermaine O’Neal is out. He told reporters in Miami that he was going to seek a second opinion on his left knee. Shaq is playing through an early-season injury of his own. Semih Erden has a bad shoulder, but he too is giving what he has to give.
That leaves Garnett and Glen Davis to soak up major minutes in the frontcourt and both have had fantastic starts to their season. But even divvying up 60-65 minutes a night, there’s still 30 minutes or so that have to be played on the front line.
There’s a thought that Rasheed Wallace may be lurking somewhere in the shadows, but even if Sheed is contemplating a P.J. Brown-like return, the timing may not be right. Stephane Lasme impressed the Celtics with his play in camp and he’s younger and obviously in game shape right now.
Delonte West’s suspension has one game left and when he returns he will fill a huge void in the backcourt. Could it be time to shuffle the pieces around again?