How many times during his career has it been said? Get Kevin Garnett in the post. Here is the issue for the Celtics against the Heat: Get Kevin Garnett the ball in the post.

They did it in Game 1, not so much in Game 2, but they knew if they were going to have a chance to climb back in this series, that had to be the main offensive option. Without Chris Bosh, Miami doesn’t really have anyone who can guard Garnett. They used Ronny Turiaf and Joel Anthony and they even used LeBron James at times in Game 3. Lacking size, the Heat’s strategy is to front, rather than play behind KG, and that leads to problem of geometry. Fortunately for the Celtics, Rajon Rondo happens to be a master of angles.

“It’s a very tough pass,” Keyon Dooling said. “Rondo makes things that are difficult look routine. But to be able to the throw it over guys 6-foot-9 with incredible wingspans, to put the right amount of air right under it to land in KG’s hands, is very tough.”

To get the ball to Garnett, the pass must travel over the defender and – here’s the key part – once it does, it has to give Garnett a chance to do something with it once it does reach him. Throw it too low and it will get picked off. Throw it too long and he’ll be too far under the basket to do anything. Of course, once the pass gets there, Garnett has a whole new host of problems to deal with, namely bodies and arms reaching, clawing, scratching, the whole bit.

“Listen, this is exhausting,” Doc Rivers said. “You get guys grabbing you and holding you, and you're trying to roll and they’re fronting you.  It’s exhausting. But I thought we made terrific passes in the first half.  Every time Kevin rolled. One of the things we kept telling them at the end of the day, throw it up.  There's nobody taller than him on the floor. Throw it up in the air, Kevin will go get it.”

Rondo kept throwing it and Garnett kept getting it and by the end of the third quarter, he had 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and the Celtics had an 18-point lead. That was when Rondo took over and started doing his thing. He had impeccable timing because that’s when the Heat started making one of their patented runs.

This time, the Celtics had the answers. They had Garnett and they had Rondo playing well together at the same time. They also had an inspired bench effort from players like Dooling and Marquis Daniels, and all of that led to their first win of the series, 101-91.

“[Rondo] stabilized us, really,” Rivers said. “We were trying to do something with Kevin, and we needed to give him a blow in that one stretch. We couldn’t score, but they scored every time. When they do that, then the game does become a half‑court game.”

If Rondo was superhuman in Game 2, he was sublime in Game 3. Playing almost 43 minutes and all of the second half until the final minute, he scored 21 points and had 10 assists, six rebounds and just two turnovers. He was patient with his offense, working Garnett in the post and hitting Paul Pierce and Ray Allen for kickouts. In a nice wrinkle, the Celtics had their wing plays move down the arc with Rondo, giving them space for 3’s on the move. Then in the fourth quarter, he attacked and finished.

This was Rondo the catcher, calling a near-flawless game. He controlled the action, worked the pace and when it was time to go, he went as only Rondo can, flipping home layups and freezing the defense with his hear-you-see-it-now-you-don’t sleight of hand.

“I’m like a pitcher throwing a no‑hitter, you stay away from that joker,” Rivers said. “The guy scored 44 points, what can I possibly tell him? I didn't tell him a word. I told him to keep running the team. Keep running the team. The only thing we told him offensively was we had to get Kevin involved. Other than that, just go play.”

“My goal was to win,” Rondo said. “By any means necessary. We needed to get the win.  I just wanted to sacrifice and do the things for my teammates to get the lead, keep the lead and just run the show. My job is to be the leader out there in the floor. The extension of Doc. I wanted to call a great game, keep my turnovers down and keep guys happy.”

The Celtics were happy after this one, although that’s not really the word that describes them these days. The real word is confident and even after suffering a gut-punch loss in Game 2, their confidence continued to grow.

“Listen, we got our butt kicked in Game 1,” Rivers said. “Game 2 we felt like we played well. We felt like we missed some makeable shots in the fourth quarter and in overtime.  And we never felt like we took advantage of Kevin in that game. And I thought we also saw defensively we should be better than what we were in that game. And I thought we did all those things tonight.”

Now it gets harder. The Celtics are right back in the same position they were last year against Miami: Down 2-1 with a chance to make this a series if they can hold serve in the Garden on Sunday. They can’t count on Miami missing half its free throws again, or on Dwyane Wade not getting to the line at all. They can’t really count on Dooling and Daniels combing to score 16 points again.

What they have, however, is the blueprint. Garnett in the post early and Rondo the magician late. They are the two players the Heat have no answers for at the moment.

“It’s whatever. It’s desperation,” Garnett said, working himself into a fine froth. “You know at this point its desperation. Desperation basketball. Game 4, it’s going to be even more. You got to anticipate them making adjustments. We’re going to make some adjustments. But the tenacity, the desperation has to be there. We’re playing at home, we have to give it our all out and it will be out. The jungle was rockin’ tonight. I want to thank all the fans who came out. F---in jungle was rockin’ tonight! I loved it. F---in’ loved it. F--k it.”

That too.