MIAMI -- From the moment the Heat were assembled in the frenzied, chaotic summer of 2010, there’s been a feeling that if you can knock them around, you can throw them off their game. Many have tried, few have been successful.

You don’t even have to go far back in history to see what happened the last time someone tried to get in their heads. The Pacers came into the second-round series talking tough and Miami responded with three straight victories after being down 2-1, which led Larry Bird to label his own team, “S-O-F-T.”

It’s not surprising that Rajon Rondo’s comments after Game 1: “Nothing dirty, but they have to hit the deck too” have stirred up a new controversy. Multiple outlets ran screaming headlines about the revenge and retribution and they’ve run round the clock on ESPN’s ticker.

Not surprisingly, that was the first question posed to Rondo during a media session at the team’s hotel on Tuesday. “You’re going to stick with that?” he said before even the question was even finished.

“That’s from you guys, really. You guys take the words and you run with it, but this is basketball,” Rondo said. “I didn’t say nothing dirty about flagrants. I didn’t say undercut, play dirty. It’s just basketball.”

That was a longer response than the one given by Kevin Garnett who went with his old walk-off standby, “You guys take it easy,” before mumbling something NSFW about the press venturing into strange places.

Perhaps Garnett didn’t get the memo. Perhaps he didn’t care, but as reporters kept tap-dancing around questions about being physical and comfort zones, he kept talking about defensive philosophies, not hard fouls.

“Everything can’t be so simple and so easy,” Garnett said. “You have to put some type of defensive impact into the game. When you’re playing a team on the road you try to make it as uncomfortable as you can. When you’re playing against two of the greatest to ever play the game, guys who are offensively gifted, high basketball IQs, know how to play the game and seen numerous traps, numerous schemes, you have to be cohesive. You have to be together. You have to understand the strategies, the plans. The margin for error is very small at that point. We’re a defensive team. We didn’t get into a defensive flow and slow down anything.”

Not surprisingly, the Heat were not amused by Rondo’s comments, with Dwyane Wade telling reporters at their availability that, “We’re not going to let anyone punk us.”

As the media game of telephone developed, Wade’s comments were relayed back to Rondo who responded, “I don’t think no one’s going to punk anybody. You get fined. There’s only so much you can do as far as acting like a tough guy. We've just got to play smart basketball try to find a way to win the game.”

Beneath the talk and the maelstrom, the Celtics do need to be more physical with Miami than they were in Game 1, when they gave up a staggering 19 layups and allowed the Heat to shoot 21-for-27 in the paint. “That can’t happen in a CYO game, let alone a playoff game,” said Doc Rivers, who made sure to show his team all 19 in succession to start their film session.

“We’ve just got to stop the ball, have the ball more under control,” Garnett said. “The 19 layups is a lot of layups in a playoff game, conference finals. Can’t happen. Can’t win a game like that.”

There’s another side of this as well, which is the Celtics actually attempted 37 shots in the paint and made only 17 of them. The free throws were basically even -- Miami had a 23-21 advantage -- but Rondo and Paul Pierce didn’t go to the line one time, despite taking 38 shots between them. Rondo feels like they were the ones who hit the deck, and didn’t get the calls.

“That’s crazy,” Rondo said of his and Pierce’s lack of attempts. “I think I shot the ball 20 times. I took three jump shots and no free throws. That’s just part of it. I’ve got to keep attacking. I think Joel Anthony shot more free throws than me and took 20 [actually 18] less attempts. That’s part of the game. I don’t think that’s a fine, but I just got to stay aggressive.”

Then there’s Pierce, who attempted 18 shots and had only two rebounds. This is a constant battle with Pierce whenever he’s matched up against LeBron James. Pierce is one of the few players who have the physical ability to withstand James’ punishing style, but he’s also giving up some 30 pounds. He has to establish the perception, as well as the reality, that he can physically handle James and get the corresponding calls to go in his favor.

“It’s easy to read if he has no foul shots and only two rebounds, then it wasn’t a physical game for Paul,” Rivers said. “Paul is every bit as physical as LeBron as far as body types. He just has to do it.”

If the Celtics are going to win this series, they have to remain true to their roots. Their game is physical and tough, especially on the defensive end. But it’s not about throwing guys into the third row or hitting them in the head. For the Celtics, it’s about playing their defense, shrinking the floor and yes, making things uncomfortable for the other team. That’s how they win and that’s how they still believe they can win.

“You can tell they believe by their anger after the game,” Rivers said. “There wasn’t a lot of happy guys in our locker room, or in film when we start out by showing 19 straight layups. Who wants to watch that?”