"It?s not coaching that?s the problem here, and it?s not our offense - it?s us and our commitment," said Celtics forward Kendrick Perkins about his team's struggles. "I don?t want anyone blaming the coaches for this. We have good defensive schemes, and they put us in the right position to make plays. We just have to stick with it and see it all the way through."

Perkins? comments only buoyed Rivers? spirits yesterday in what could have been a particularly rough day of practice.

"The biggest difference for me between now and then is that (Orlando) team was a bad team," Rivers said. "Someone asked me that question the other day, too, and I said that the difference is that I would never trade the team I have now."

"This is a team you have to stay with through the pain. But that?s all right with me. I can live with this kind of frustration."