The play was certainly intense enough when the Celtics met the Raptors last night, and the locals can only hope it was a preview of coming attractions.


``That's playoff basketball,'' said Antoine Walker after bodies were strewn all over the court in the C's 106-97 victory. ``There was nothing easy out there, and that's something we've obviously got to get accustomed to. We've got to come and expect that type of physical play.''

Things got a bit dangerous at times. Paul Pierce hit the floor hard in the first quarter (he'll have his left wrist X-rayed today), and Walter McCarty was called for a flagrant 2 foul (the more severe of the two) on Antonio Davis midway through the last quarter and was ejected. There was even a fight in the stands.