The Celtics turned a run-of-the-mill Wednesday game in Charlotte into a pivotal moment in their struggle for relevancy in the NBA East. What made it pivotal? The Cs closed the holes that had recently cracked wide open in their interior defense and won in convincing fashion with overall-excellent D and average (even kinda low) shooting stats.
I.e., Boston's victory came NOT because of unsustainably hot shooting (as in their last game, vs. MIN), but through the effective execution of solid, steady defense. More specifically, the Cs dropped the quasi-zone defensive stance that had proven so disastrous in recent games (ATL, DET, even MIN) and went back to solid 1-on-1 D with rotating help.