It’s all about perspective these days for the Celtics. They played the Orlando Magic down to the wire on Friday night, but were in the words of their coach, Doc Rivers, “awful.”

On Sunday, they managed to beat the Knicks, 107-105, in overtime at Madison Square Garden (recap), and while they didn’t win any style points for the effort, Rivers was happy with the victory.

“There were some stretches where we played really good basketball,” Rivers told reporters. “Overall, there were some good things. We had unbelievable shots all night and we couldn’t make them.”

The Celtics are 10-4 and comfortably in first place in the Atlantic Division and near the top of the Eastern Conference. But they have also lost three of their last five and still seem to be searching for an identity.

Defense is what is supposed to guide this team, but Nate Robinson and Al Harington took turns shredding the Celtics on the perimeter. Ball movement is supposed to be the team’s trademark on offense, but 21 assists on 35 makes reveal a lack of continuity.

The Celtics are a work in progress, but they remain good enough to be considered a legitimate contender and they will certainly take the win, regardless of how it came to pass. That said, here are three noteworthy occurrences on the way to that win:

IT’S TIME TO RECOGNIZE PAUL PIERCE

Paul Pierce goes by many names – The Truth, the Captain – but perhaps it’s time to consider calling him “The Rock,” because with all the uncertainty surrounding the Celtics, Pierce remains the steady constant.

He scored 33 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists, which is a tremendous line. More importantly, every single one of his numbers seemed significant.
Pierce started the overtime by scoring the Celtics’ first seven points, and on the final possession, Rivers revealed that Pierce called the pick and pop that resulted in Kevin Garnett’s game-winner.

Pierce has clearly been the Celtics’ best player all season offensively and he remains solid, if not underrated, defensively. He added another wrinkle by replacing Marquis Daniels as the team’s secondary ball-handler (more on this later) and was able to get the team into sets and calm things down.

Pierce is beyond the point in his career where he will put up MVP-type numbers, but he is clearly the Most Valuable Celtic and he is in the beginning stages of what could be a special season.

THE KEVIN GARNETT WATCH WILL BEGIN SHORTLY

It’s been argued several times in this space that Garnett’s comeback should not be judged until the calendar turns to 2010 at the earliest, but patience is in short supply these days.

After 14 games this much is obvious: Garnett does not appear to be the same KG as he was before he injured his knee. Use any term that you like to describe what’s missing – burst, explosion, etc. – but it appears that Garnett’s athleticism is declining.

The alley-oops that once resulted in automatic dunks are 50-50 propositions at best. His numbers are down almost across the board (we’re talking rate and advanced stats, not per game averages, which are obviously down as KG plays fewer minutes).

Rivers has continued to insist that Garnett is 100 percent healthy and it’s just a matter of timing.

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Audio on Demand

• JaJuan Johnson with Grande & Max post-win
• Grande & Max with Doris Burke

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Boston Red Sox vs Minnesota Twins - JetBlue Park, Lee County , FL
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“His game is just not there yet,” Rivers said Friday before the Orlando game. “His jump shot is back, for sure. His timing is off a little bit. One day his quickness is there and the next game it’s not.”

All of that is to be expected, of course. After all, the man does have over 1,000 games and 40,000 minutes on his odometer, and that’s just the regular season. But Garnett’s standard is so high that it seems more pronounced when he’s struggling to get lift out of the post or is maybe a step or two behind the play on defense.

Yet he remains as intelligent as ever on the court, capable of great things as a help defender and a one-on-one stopper in spots. He still has that 20-foot jump shot, which the Knicks know all too well after he knocked down the game-winner Sunday, despite a miserable shooting day up to that point.

Regardless of his athletic indicators, Garnett remains a skilled and smart basketball player. That’s where he is at this moment in time in late November.

But if this is a good as it gets, the question for the future will become: Can the Celtics compete for a championship if Garnett is 80 or 90 percent of what he once was?

It may be an unsatisfying answer, but only time will tell.

THE RAJON RONDO ADJUSTMENT HAS PROMISE

After the loss to Orlando, Rivers indicated that he was still searching for the right combinations. It’s been something that he has hinted at over the last few weeks, and on Sunday we saw the first tangible rotation adjustment since the season started and Shelden Williams assumed Glen Davis’ minutes.

At about the seven-minute mark of both the first and third quarters, Rivers subbed out Rajon Rondo for Eddie House. Pierce assumed the ball-handling duties and House moved over to his natural off-guard position.

Rivers’ move came into focus at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters as Rondo returned to the lineup to play the point with the second unit. The previous rotation had either Pierce or Ray Allen playing with the second unit and Daniels operating as the de-facto point guard.

It’s an interesting switch, which may have something to do with an injury to Daniels’ left hand, but it has some promise. House scored all 10 of his points in the first half and gave the Celtics offense a jolt in the first quarter, as a 13-12 lead became 30-22.

It didn’t work as well in the second half, but give Rivers credit for coming up with a creative answer to a rotation that has become stale. The Knicks’ small lineup also might have had something to do with the move, but it will be interesting to see if Rivers keeps this direction and if so, what its potential impact will be on Rondo, House, Daniels and Pierce.