Sports fans will tell you baseball isn't baseball if the Yankees are losing and the NFL isn't quite right when the Cowboys are near the bottom. With the great franchises, you love them or hate them, but when they fade you miss them.

The NBA has missed the Boston Celtics, the league's most successful and storied franchise.
But after a long absence, the Celtics are back, and Boston is falling in love with them. These Celtics, led by Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, might be good enough to win the Atlantic Division and more.

``They're feeling it in Boston,'' said Heat coach Pat Riley, whose team meets the Celtics tonight in Boston. ``It's a team that's been down a long time, and they're feeling it. They've got two great players and some good role players. They're rock solid.''

Walker, a 6-9 forward, and Pierce, a 6-6 forward, have emerged as stars, and the Celtics have ascended along with them. Boston is in second in the Atlantic, one game behind the New Jersey Nets. This is the best team Boston has seen since the days of Larry Bird.

In December, Walker and Pierce were named the Eastern Conference Co-Players of the Month. They led the Celtics to their best December record in 11 years -- 11-5.

``It feels good to get this organization back on the right track,'' said Walker, who averaged 23.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game in December. ``Obviously, that's what we've worked for . . . to get back to the same plateau as [past Celtics teams.]

``We've got a long way to go, but it's a start. We're accomplishing what we feel we have to. We're getting off to a great start to this season. I think what we are doing is gaining confidence, gaining a kind of swagger to ourselves so we can beat anybody.''

Pierce averaged 27.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals in December. Like Walker, Pierce also has a sense of history.

``I feel everybody has been waiting for the Celtics to rise again,'' Pierce said. ``It's one of the most storied franchises in sports, and we need to be on top.

``That's the point we're trying to get to. We may never be the Celtics of old, but we want to get back to those days when you were talking about one of the top teams in all the NBA. We got a taste of winning early, and it's starting to get contagious.''

Walker is on pace to set the NBA record for three-point attempts and three-pointers made. Either Walker or Pierce has led the Celtics in scoring in 102 of Boston's past 103 games. Walter McCarty led the Celtics in scoring on April 15, 2001.

Pierce beat the Heat 84-83 with a driving layup at the buzzer on Nov. 27 in Miami.

But the Celtics might rely too heavily on Walker and Pierce.

``Other guys can't just depend upon on me to score all the points. Especially down the stretch, guys really have to step up,'' Pierce said after last Wednesday's 99-86 loss to Utah.

``They've got two superstars,'' Heat forward Brian Grant said. ``You can't stop them completely. They're going to get their baskets, but you have to try to keep any of their other guys from getting off and having someone else get a 15-point night.''

Riley knows just how difficult the Celtics have become to beat.

``We know the numbers,'' he said. ``It took them a long time, but they're back. All those trades they made they were criticized for, but now those trades are a bargain because they have great role players. You have to lose for a while to get good, sometimes.''