Celtics able to overcome Game 1 woes

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jim O'Brien stood in front of a board in the Boston Celtics locker before Game 2 and wrote the keys to winning. Most of them were about defense and rebounding.\nThe coach's advice was not lost on the Celtics.\nOn a night when Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker struggled with their shots, Boston excelled on defense and controlled the boards to beat the New Jersey Nets 93-86.\nThe outcome evened an Eastern Conference final in which the teams have displayed split personalities. The Nets had their up-tempo offense in gear in Game 1 and made the Celtics' defense look nonexistent. Game 2 on Tuesday night was just the opposite.\n"They saw defense," Celtics point guard Kenny Anderson said. "Now they'll have to bring their game. They will see us like this the next four or five games. This is the kind of defense we need to play. Aggressive, helping each other out, swarming."\nThe teams will have three days off before playing Game 3 on Saturday in Boston.\nAfter watching the Nets shoot almost 50 percent and score 104 points in Game 1, O'Brien spent the next 48 hours tweaking the Celtics' defense and stressing the keys that had limited Detroit to an average of less than 80 points in the conference semifinal.\nPressure the ball. Rebound. Get back on defense. Load the middle. Challenge half the Nets' shots. Nothing inside. Stop the drives.\n"We cannot change at this point in the season," the Boston coach said of his defense. "They have one of the best offenses in the league, and we were dead set on not letting them contribute in the paint."\nThat forced New Jersey to take more jumpers, and the Nets clanged a lot of them, hitting just 33 percent.\nBoston, which didn't shoot much better at 34 percent, was there for the rebounds on both ends, holding a 60-50 advantage.\n"We had counters for everything they did," Nets forward Kenyon Martin said. "We just didn't do it. Guys had the ball, and it seemed like they were nervous."\nThat was never more evident than in the third quarter, when the Nets went without a field goal for almost eight minutes. Boston outscored New Jersey 18-1 in the spurt that started with Walker and Pierce hitting consecutive 3-pointers. It was one of the few times they found the range.\nWalker had 26 points and Pierce 18, combining to make 14 of 52 shots. Pierce really struggled, making 3 of 20 from the field and 11 of 20 from the line.