Leave it to Glen Davis to put into words how the Celtics have lacked a killer instinct against some opponents over the past two seasons and how he'd like to see Boston finish the job more consistently.

"We don't speak no English, all we know is 'kill,'" Davis said after Monday's practice in Waltham. "That's it. No more English. Switzerland. That's all we know is 'kill.' Kill, kill, kill; That's our mentality. That's how we have to be for the rest of the season, winning these games and not taking Toronto for granted, not taking Cleveland for granted. Not taking any of these teams for granted. Every team gets up for us and we just gotta get up for every game. No days off."

Kevin Garnett took a simpler approach, heaping praise on a Cleveland Cavaliers squad and preaching a 48-minute approach against a team that topped Boston last month.

"First off, this is a team that's not locked into one or two guys, they share the ball, they run their sets, and they know what they’re doing. They know what kind of team they are, they're a hard-working team that plays for 48 minutes, and they play hard. I wouldn’t say we underestimated them, because of the LeBron [James] factor, but this is a team that you don't know what to expect, to be honest. But they're playing beautiful basketball, you gotta be ready for that.

"It's high-energy guys, guys who keep the ball alive. Most importantly, they understand their roles. [Anderson] Varejao is going to bring pure energy, J.J. [Hickson] is getting better as the year goes on, he's getting experience. [Mo Williams is] back and he’s giving them a lot of confidence while playing with a lot of confidence. They’re a team to be reckon with, not just a team out here getting 'almost wins,' they’re playing hard for 48 minutes."

Davis said if Boston did underestimate Cleveland, it won't happen again.

"We didn't destroy them," said Davis. "We played a tough game the night before and I think we were still on [opening night's win over] Miami, thinking about Miami. We didn't come and play the way we should have played. You can't do that. You gotta go in there and finish every game. At the end of the day, we need these games for home-court advantage. That's what we're trying to fight for."