While Ray Allen was taking care of business at free throw line, Paul Pierce had his arms around Rajon Rondo. “We’ve got your back,” Pierce told the point guard whose late-game fumble and botched layup had threatened to derail this modest winning streak the Celtics have put together.

Pierce scored 30 points in their 97-92 overtime win over the Rockets on Tuesday and seemed to make all the big plays down the stretch and in the extra session. Even his unfortunate 8-second backcourt violation was a testament to Pierce’s show of solidarity. Rondo had already left the backcourt, leaving Pierce stranded with no safety valve and Houston’s Courtney Lee draped all over him. He took one for the team, in other words.

About 60 feet away, while Allen was icing the game, Kevin Garnett stood in position. He had uncharacteristically missed two of his own a minute earlier that threatened to undo what had been a herculean effort on the boards. The Celtics got crushed on the glass, as usual, but it was Garnett who gave them even a fighting chance against Luis Scola and Sam Dalembert. In the process he moved past former teammate Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time rebounding list.

“I like nothing about it,” said Garnett, who has more than 13,000 boards in his career. “It's something I have to do, it's something I'm decent at and something I know how to do.”

Earlier it was Allen who bailed them all out with a clutch 3-pointer after they had blown a 10-point second-half lead. Earlier still, it was Rondo who gave them a jumpstart when the energy in the building was at preseason scrimmage levels. He even jumped into the fray for Garnett when he was battling with Dalembert.

Together they combined for 73 of the 97 points, 21 of the 26 assists and 29 of the 31 free throws. This is how it used to be routinely at the Garden with all four of them covering for each other and not only carrying the load, but also divvying up the responsibilities.

The Celtics have won five straight games and rather miraculously have a showdown game with Philadelphia on Wednesday for first place in the Atlantic Division. Raise your hand if you saw that one coming when they scattered for the All-Star break, losers of seven out of eight.

It was that last game in Oklahoma City that gave them life. Down by 27 points, they cut the lead to six before running out of steam. For a team that shouldn’t have to rely on moral victories, throwing a scare in the Thunder was indeed a rallying point.

“When we left Oklahoma City, we said we have to bring that effort every night and everybody needs to be on the same page,” Allen said. “No clouds hanging over our locker room. Guys who are injured, take care of your bodies. Let’s be all in and that’s we have. We can’t look over our shoulders and worry about who’s not here or deal with what’s going on in the training room.”

The Celtics finally have a somewhat functioning nine-man rotation, but as always, it comes down to those four. They’re coming together now, but that cohesion seemed to be missing during the awkward, but inevitable, transformation from The Big Three to the Rondo era.

It’s been an odd way for them to go out. They came together quicker than anyone expected and rallied once when everyone had left them for dead. They won one championship and came within a maddening fourth quarter of winning a second.

It should also be acknowledged that 2009 was the real disappointment. They were 27-2 that year and were 44-11 when Garnett’s knee gave out. Now it seems inevitable that some medical misfortune would get them, but at the time they were the clear favorites to repeat. In some ways their legacy feels incomplete. In others, they have already accomplished what they were brought here to do.

It seems that we’ve been waiting for the end since the beginning and that time may finally be here, depending on how the March 15 deadline shakes out. The trade winds are eerily calm while the league waits for resolution on Dwight Howard. As many as eight teams are still in the chase, if you believe the latest missive from Magic GM Otis Smith, and no one wants to do anything until that situation is resolved.

Rumors abound, but there are no names to go with any of the speculation. Both publicly and privately, the team says it will continue to listen, but are unwilling to deal for the sake of dealing.

So, the Celtics play on. They’ve regained some sense of normalcy with this winning streak, but it’s a thin line. If Pierce doesn’t make that 3 against the Knicks, or if the Rockets were able to close this one out, then this cautious optimism is replaced by familiar frustration. They remain one injury away from catastrophe.

Yet if they can beat the 76ers on Wednesday, they would move one game ahead in the loss column. Considering the heavy minutes they’ve all played in the 72 hours, it would be unfair to call this a last stand. But it’s something of an achievement that they are even in this position. 

“What we’ve been able to do in this last week has nothing to do with Philly or anybody else. It has to do with us righting our ship,” Allen said. “We meet them [Wednesday] and we want to beat them. We still have to play well, regardless of what time we get in or what kind of fatigue is out there on the floor, we have to play the way we’re capable of playing and continue to get better.”

Five years is a long time in the NBA. Longer than most people gave this team when it came together. They owe it to themselves to give it one more shot, and to try and do it together. 

“We’re going to grind this thing out. See what we can do,” Garnett said. “If you know anything about us, or know anything about this history for the last five years, it’s that we grind and we’re going to work. And we’re going to push for this thing and see how far we can take it.”