ATLANTA -- So, here are the Celtics with their backs against the wall and no one to get Kevin Garnett the ball in his favored shooting position. It’s a familiar stance for this team that has long prided itself – thrived even – on overcoming long odds and its own self-inflicted wounds. They like to say that they play their best when everything is against them. That well-worn determination won’t mean much if they head back to Boston with four games to make up in the next five. Those are odds even they don’t want to try to overcome.

Garnett was suspended for a playoff game in 2010 after throwing a careless elbow in the direction of Quentin Richardson and the Celtics not only won that game, they advanced all the way to Game 7 of the NBA finals. Of course, they had Glen Davis around to replace him. More recently, Paul Pierce was thrown out of a playoff game against Miami last season when the Celtics were mounting a desperate comeback. They had no one who could replace him and the series was effectively over after the C’s went home down two games to none. That’s the flipside for the team that never does anything the easy way.

Now it’s Rajon Rondo’s turn. There’s no question that Rondo was wrong to bump referee Marc Davis in the waning moments of Game 1 against the Hawks on Sunday. He knows it and so do his teammates and coaches. They support each other publicly because that’s what they do, but Rondo has left them in a tenuous position for Game 2 Tuesday night.

They have Avery Bradley to slide over and play the position, but it’s no secret that the second-year guard is better suited playing off the ball, especially against the Hawks’ tough defensive combo of Jeff Teague and Kirk Hinrich. Atlanta will pressure Bradley and the Celtics will have to find ways to counter.

“We’re going to have to help him,” Doc Rivers said. “He has improved, obviously, at that position, but he’s more comfortable at the other position. Paul [Pierce] will have to do some ballhandling duties to help out. We anticipate them pressuring him -- that’s what they do – to try and speed Avery up, and we can’t allow that.” 

“Do what he does to us,” Hawks’ forward Josh Smith said. “He’s one of the great defenders in this league at a young age. Just see if he likes it a little bit, picking him up fullcourt, turning him a little bit and making it hard for him to initiate their offense.”

With Bradley at the point, the Celtics will move Mickael Pietrus into the off-guard spot, which removes one of their two prominent bench players from the rotation and forces someone else into heavy minutes. (Ray Allen remains a game-time decision, but he hasn’t been able to do much on the court for the last two weeks and it would be a surprise if he was able to play). 

“We’ve gone down this road before, with [Rondo’s] injury,” Rivers said on Monday.  “We played well in that stretch. This is a resilient basketball team. That’s what we are. That’s what we’ve been all year. Sometimes it takes this stuff, for whatever reason, to snap us into the right play. I don’t know whether we’re going to win or lose, but I can guarantee you we’ll be ready to play.”

That would be an improvement over Game 1 when the Celtics were caught flush in the mouth by a wound-up Hawks team that played the quarter of their life. The C’s recovered, at least defensively, and actually outscored the Hawks 56-52 after that first 12 minutes, but it says a lot about the Celtics and who they are at this stage that a 13-point first quarter lead was basically insurmountable.

Rivers will need someone – anyone – to take those minutes. He tried Sasha Pavlovic in Game 1 and Pavlovic’s catatonic evil twin showed up instead. Keyon Dooling offered some spark in the second quarter and Rivers trusts him implicitly, even through a difficult season.

“We don’t pay just like five or six guys. We pay them to be ready,” Rivers said. “Keyon Dooling last night. Avery got in foul trouble, he was struggling. We went to Keyon, he came in and played great. Because he’s a pro. He was ready to play. If Rondo can’t play we’re going to need an extra starter. We’re going to need an extra guy off the bench.”

They’re also going to need Pierce to be Pierce. Game 1 was not his best moment, as he readily acknowledged after the fact. Without Rondo, the task of running the offense will largely fall on his shoulders. He thrived in that role back in January when Rondo missed eight games with a sprained wrist, averaging 23 points and almost eight assists per game.

“I really don’t go into a game saying this is what I got to do more,” Pierce said. “I told you all many times. I play within the flow of the game, try to give it what it needs, regardless of who’s out there. They needed more scoring from me last night. If Rondo’s not there then not only am I going to have to step up, but a number of guys are going to have to step up.”

That also includes Garnett, who turned in a wretched first half that saw him miss eight of nine shots and get completely outplayed by Jason Collins, a veteran journeyman of such unrefined offensive skill that his six points were cause for celebration in Atlanta. If the Celtics are going to survive, they’ll need their two veteran warhorses to pull them across the finish line.

Here in Atlanta, the Hawks are confident but wary. This a long-awaited chance to enjoy a breakthrough against the team that has tormented them so many times. It would be just like the Celtics to deny them when their opportunity is greatest. But history means little now, it's on the C's to dig out of yet another hole they created for themselves.