Boston Celtics

The Celtics have a 10-4 record, but they don't have real peace of mind.

They've lost some ugly games and haven't played well even in some of the victories.

"We're just trying to do better," said forward Paul Pierce. "It's just the little things, the simple things that we have to do. It's a confident ballclub. We've been together for a while, and we're not worried about it. It's execution. If you're supposed to set a pick, set a pick; if you're supposed to cut hard, cut hard. Show on defense.

"We're still the same team. We're still learning. It's a long season, and we haven't hit our peak yet. We understand that it's a long season, but we want to try to get better every day. We feel upset that we lost three games in November -- at home. This is not a team that pushes the panic button, though. We just have to work to get ourselves back on the same page.

"It hurts to lose. I've been a competitor my whole career, but you still understand it's a long season, and there are going to be peaks and valleys."

Coach Doc Rivers said the trouble is the result of "just breaking execution. You start a play, and the next thing you know you're out of the play. You want your players to be free to see something. The player can absolutely be right and we can do 'this,' but if the other four don't know what 'this' is, then it can't work even if he's right. That's where we are at times.

"High basketball IQ -- those are the types of teams that do that, and then you just have to get them back to being a disciplined group, too, and they will be," Rivers added. "That's why I'm not as concerned as someone else would be, because they're a smart team, and that's one of the residual effects. We have to think as a team."

CELTICS 107, KNICKS 105 (OT): The Celts struggled against another weak team, but they managed to win when Kevin Garnett, who'd been struggling all Sunday afternoon himself, came up big at the right time. With the game tied, Garnett took a pass from Paul Pierce and hit a 19-footer at the buzzer. Garnett was 3-for-14 from the floor before making the last shot.

• F Kevin Garnett is apparently healthy, but he's clearly not the same player he was before suffering a right knee injury last season. The Celts insist he'll get back to normal, however.

  "I think it will take all year," said coach Doc Rivers. "By playoff time he will be fine. But he'll have a great stretch, then a tired stretch. That's just my opinion. I don't know how long it will take."

  Said Garnett, "I'm not going to make any excuses about my health. Nobody, I think, at this point is playing at 100 percent. As long as my effort is there, as long as my grittiness and griminess to go out and play hard is there, I care less about everything else."

• Orlando center Dwight Howard is the latest to praise Kendrick Perkins' defense.

  "He is a great defender," Howard said. "I'd say he's probably one of the best low-post defenders in the game today and he's underrated, but he's gotten better from his first year to now. He's a big body, a traditional center, and he knows how to use his body well."

  Howard thinks it helps that his former tutor, Clifford Ray, is now coaching Perkins.

  "Coach Ray has taught him about all of my moves in the book," Howard said. "He does a good job and the other guys on that team shrink the floor, so that makes it real tough. They don't double-team as much as other teams do, but they sit in the paint and they make it tough to get into the paint because they know that I want to get in there."

Quote To Note:

"I didn't mind this win. I thought there were some stretches where we played really good basketball."

—Coach Doc Rivers after the ugly victory over the lowly New York Knicks.

Rotation:

Starters—Point guard Rajon Rondo, Shooting guard Ray Allen, Small forward Paul Pierce, Power forward Kevin Garnett, Center Kendrick Perkins. Bench—Guard Eddie House, Forward/Center Rasheed Wallace, Guard/Forward Marquis Daniels, Forward Shelden Williams.

Player Notes:

• F Paul Pierce got coach Doc Rivers to change the final play against the Knicks. Pierce ran a pick-and-roll with Kevin Garnett and found him for the open jumper when both Knicks followed Pierce. "Sometimes a coach is a good listener, and on that one I was," said Rivers. "Honestly, Paul called that. I had a completely different play. It was a good thing because he saw it. And Kevin needed that shot. It was great. Kevin had shots all night; he just couldn't make them. So it was great for him to make the shot."

• F Rasheed Wallace went 0-for-6 from the floor against the Knicks and had his first scoreless regular-season game since January 31, 2007 at New Jersey.

• F Bill Walker has been sent to Maine of the NBDL. He has appeared in one game for the Celts after coming back from knee surgery in the preseason.

Medical Watch:

• F Glen Davis (fractured right thumb) is out until early December.

• G Tony Allen (rehab from right ankle surgery) is back practicing.