The Celtics took a 16-point beating in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Pacers. Although the outlook was rather dim with Indiana leading by as many as 29 in the first contest, Paul Pierce insists the Celtics can advance.

``Yeah,'' he said. ``I believe it. I believe it because I'm an optimist and I believe anything's possible.

``We've just got to make this series into a war and, you know, see what happens.''

Chucky Atkins was equally militaristic. ``For us to be competitive in this series, we're going to have to turn it into just an all-out war,'' he said. ``If we just allow those guys to come out and just push us around and control where we go on the court, the series won't be very long. . . .

``We're letting guys get running starts to get rebounds. It's both the big guys' and perimeter guys' fault. We're not playing team defense. We've got to get out there and help the big guys get some rebounds, and the big guys have got to do a better job of boxing out.

``It all boils down to how well we're going to play defense,'' Atkins said.