here was no mistaking the feeling. It's the one where the throat tumbles into the stomach and the sweat turns cold. The Celtics were in danger of losing - again - to the Chicago Bulls. That would be twice in six days and there would be no way to put a positive spin on that.

''A loss to the Bulls really sticks in your head,'' Paul Pierce said. ''It was like, oh no, not again.''

But, of course, it never came to that. Pierce had something to do with it; he erupted for 17 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter and the Celtics rallied for a 107-101 victory at the