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The Boston Celtics are asking Avery Bradley to be something that he's not and he hasn't been himself on the court because of it:


And a look at offday headlines from our friends at ESPN New York:

Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley finished 12th in this year's balloting for Defensive Player of the Year. The lingering question is whether he deserved better.

Bradley, a third-year guard, landed on just five of 121 ballots cast by sportswriters and broadcasters, but earned a pair of first-place votes while accruing 15 points overall. Memphis' Marc Gasol won the award with 30 first-place votes and a total of 212 points, while LeBron James (149 points), Serge Ibaka (122), Joakim Noah (107), and Tony Allen (102) rounded out the top 5.

A few thoughts on where Bradley landed this year:

* Those that stumped for Bradley will point to his individual defensive numbers, most notably those from Synergy Sports. In terms of points allowed per possession, Bradley was No. 1 among all players with at least 250 possessions defended at 0.697 points per play (next closest was old friend Marquis Daniels at 0.707 ppp). What's more, Bradley was also tops in opponent field goal percentage (30.8) and opponent score percentage (31.8). He wasn't perfect, but when he kept his man in front of him, he made things very difficult for that player (whether that was harassing opposing ball-handlers or making shots difficult for shooters).

* Boston's barely-better-than-.500 record certainly didn't help Bradley's cause (he was the only Celtics player to receive a vote, despite being a team that ranked sixth in defensive rating this season). What's more, the fact that Bradley missed the first 30 games of the season likely played a role in driving down his vote total.

* It's a big man's award. Always has been, with Gary Payton really the only exception in the past two decades.

* This is a step in the right direction for Bradley, who tied for 14th place last season with only two points.

* The more important defensive honors await with the NBA's All-Defense teams announced next month. That's voted on by the league's 30 head coaches and is position specific. It will be interesting to how Bradley fares there.

Read on for the full voting and previous year's recipients:

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BOSTON -- Celtics guard Avery Bradley said the bruised left collarbone he suffered during the fourth quarter of Boston's 97-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday is not related to the shoulder injuries that forced him out of the Celtics' playoff run last season and that he isn't expecting to miss any significant time moving forward.

Bradley absorbed a sharp elbow while trying to defend Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving on a drive to the basket with just over 3½ minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Bradley reached for the sore spot when the play was over and retreated to the locker room with trainer Ed Lacerte not long after.

Bradley returned to the bench before the game was over, but did not return to action.

"[Irving] went to the basket, came down, and elbowed me right on my collarbone. It's just a little swollen," Bradley said, later adding, "It hurts, but I'll be fine. I get injured all the time. I'll be all right."

Upon seeing Bradley reach for his shoulder area, many wondered if he had aggravated one of the shoulder injuries he suffered last season that required surgery and kept him out until January of this year. But Bradley quickly denied any connection to his past shoulder problems.

"No, not at all. Not at all. Just my collarbone," said Bradley, who had ice wrapped on the sore area after the game.

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It's virtually impossible to ignore the negatives.

The Celtics have lost seven of their last nine games and six of their last seven on the road. Boston's defense has regressed considerably, particularly with Kevin Garnett sidelined due to left ankle inflammation the past six games, and Boston has surrendered triple-digit output in six of its last seven outings.

Even playing without their stars -- as Boston did on Monday night in Minnesota without Garnett and Paul Pierce, who wasn't with the team due to personal reasons -- the Celtics should be better than what they've shown. Alas, Boston gets some benefit of the doubt -- even as the losses mount -- because of how shorthanded it has been and even the most critical of observers has to focus on the individual gains over the team accomplishments. That's not to absolve Boston from its woeful team play, but the focus over these final games is clearly not on identifying new lineup combinations.

So if you're looking for one silver lining to help forget how Nikolva Pekovic shredded Boston's interior defense Monday night, scoring 21 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, remember that Avery Bradley scored a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and showed encouraging signs of emerging from his offensive funk.

Once dubbed the Celtics' savior for spearheading the team's turnaround with his defensive efforts, Bradley is now relegated to the second most popular athlete in town with the surname Bradley (nice debut, JBJ). He's slumped badly over the last three weeks, averaging 7.6 points while shooting 32.3 percent from the field (43 of 133) and 30.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (8 of 26) over a 13-game span starting March 6 in Indiana.

So determined to pull Bradley from his slump, the Celtics have designed their first offensive play of the game to go through him -- a rarity -- in recent outings. Coming off a Chris Wilcox screen on the left wing on Monday night, Bradley drilled a 19-foot jumper 17 seconds in and it sure seemed to light a wet fuse.

Bradley finished 8-of-14 shooting (57.1 percent) with 19 points -- his first double-digit scoring output since the Bobcats visited on March 16 -- to go along with two assists over 30:19.

"I think that's five games in a row we've run the first play for him," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "And finally he came up with a jumper. I just really believe he needed it to go in, that shot. I told him after the game, his arc was back on his shot, it wasn't flat. So that was good to see. I think that will make him a better defender too; he'll be able to relax."

After missing the first 30 games of the season while rehabbing from double shoulder surgery, Bradley's return helped Boston get back to being a defense-first team. Even though his recent offensive woes have contributed to a slight defensive dip, Bradley still tops the NBA in individual defense (among those with at least 400 possessions defended), allowing 0.698 points per play, according to Synergy Sports data. Opponents are shooting a league-low 31.1 percent against him.

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The fact that Boston’s first offensive possession during Friday’s visit from the Atlanta Hawks ended with an Avery Bradley drive was no accident. The Celtics have been looking to snap Bradley out of his recent offensive funk and ran a rare designed play for him out of the gates.

Coming off a Pierce screen on the right wing, Bradley turned the corner and ended up at the charity stripe for two freebies when he was fouled attacking the basket. One of Boston’s goals, particularly with Kevin Garnett sidelined for two weeks, is to get individual players firing on all cylinders before the postseason.

And getting Bradley back on top of his game at both ends of the floor is crucial to Boston’s postseason success, hence why Rivers went right to him.

"I didn’t care if he scored or got to the foul line, he needed to see the ball go in the basket," said Rivers. "I thought that was good for him."

Bradley added a steal/layup combo early in the first quarter, and a long outlet pass from Paul Pierce got him another layup later in the frame. The Celtics are hoping a few easy buckets will take some of the stress out of his recent shooting woes.

Bradley finished with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting with four assists, four steals and a block over 26 minutes against the Hawks. In the six games prior to Friday's visit from Atlanta, Bradley was 16-of-59 shooting overall (27.1 percent) and had missed 12 of his last 15 3-pointers in that span. He was minus-33 in plus/minus during those six games, which included a five-game losing streak.

"I haven’t been able to make many shots lately, but to see the ball go in the hoop, that’s always good," Bradley said of his early offense on Friday. "It got me rolling. But at the end of the day, I gotta just continue to keep my confidence. I know my teammates have confidence in me. I’m going to play hard no matter what, even if I’m making shots or not."

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Pickpocket Avery Bradley's impact on the Celtics' fortunes cannot be understated. Just ask members of the Rip List:

Quick hits following Celtics head coach Doc Rivers' weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI (93.7 FM) Thursday morning (click HERE to listen).

* On whether it feels like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce reach a new milestone every night: "Yeah, it really does. I was laughing about that yesterday. We clapped for Kevin and then four minutes later we're clapping for Paul. I thought we were going to have to clap for Kevin again at some point later in the game. But it's really cool when you hear names like Jerry West. Kevin Garnett just passed the NBA logo and Paul passes Charles Barkley. So when you hear names like that, you know how lucky you are as a coach that you're coaching guys like that."

* On Garnett understanding the significance of the milestones and acknowledging the crowd: "Well you never know with Kevin. We're very careful with any of those things, celebrations, giving him a ball, because he feels like it gets him out of his norm. I don't know if you've ever noticed the game balls, we usually don't do it. We do it in the locker room after the game, and it's just his wish that he wants to stay focused. But I do think over this year especially, I think he understands that he has how many years left and we don't know that, but I do think he's starting to acknowledge a lot of that and appreciate it and soak it in and I'm happy he's doing that."

* On whether Garnett could have scored more throughout his career if he had wanted to: "Oh my gosh, yes. I really think if he wanted to or had been a scorer and just focused on that, we would be talking about him challenging for the record right now. I think that's how good he can score, but I also think that's how unselfish he's been."

* On if he can recall a better on-ball defender than Avery Bradley: "No ... Derek Harper would be the first guy that comes to mind for me. Alvin Robertson was pretty good. Scottie Pippen was great, but he was a three. But as far as a point guard up pressuring the ball, you haven't seen guys get ripped at half court the way Avery has done. He has a list of guys now. I mean, it's almost every single -- he got Westbrook, he did it (Wednesday) night to Lowry. You really haven't seen that since maybe Walt Frazier used to get guys, if you remember, with that strip at half court. But to do it as consistent as Avery does it, I don't know if I've ever seen it."

* On bothering Toronto point guards Kyle Lowry and Sebastian Telfair: "Both of them. I just thought they got to the point where it became so personal with Avery that they forgot about their team and it changed the game and that's what Avery does."

* On why the team performed so poorly against the Bobcats on Tuesday: "I don't know. I wish you guys could tell me. We were bad. I mean, we were flat, you could see it early. It happens, and really, there's no excuse for what happened in that game because, again, we did have a noon game, a day off, so we had a lot of rest going into that game, and we just laid an egg. And it's human. It happens. But it's no fun to go through."

* On whether he should begrudgingly give Miami credit for winning 20 straight: "Yeah, but I think you should always give your opponent respect. And what they're doing is amazing, especially when you factor in that every night the other team is playing their best. They're trying to beat them. I think people forget -- the year after we won it, we won 18 in a row before Kevin went down, and we were on that same kind of roll as well, so I understand it. It's hard to do. It really is hard to do. And the fact that they're doing it is pretty impressive."

* On being upset over the Wes Welker news on Wednesday: "Well I was just kind of playing around, but yeah I wasn't happy with it. I like Wes, Wes is a big Celtics fan, so I do like that. But I hated to see him leave, number one, and hated to see him go to Denver, who I think in the near future will become a big rival."

* On whether the Patriots losing Wes Welker felt like the Celtics losing Ray Allen: "Well it didn't for me, but I'm sure it did for them. It's far more personal for the Patriots, like Ray was far more personal for us, so I'm sure it did feel the same way."

Click HERE to listen

Quick hits following Celtics head coach Doc Rivers' appearance on ESPN Radio's SVP & Russillo show Thursday (to listen to the interview, click HERE):

On why the Celtics have played so well (13-4) without Rajon Rondo: "Well I thought we were playing better right before he went out. I actually made that statement. What's funny is we were in the middle of a losing streak and I went out to the media and said, 'I know this sounds crazy, but I think we're about to turn the corner.' Avery was just coming back and we forget Avery missed the first 30 games of our season; Jeff Green missed all of last year, so he was starting to come into shape; Jason Terry's a new player on our team. We just had a lot of moving parts and we were just starting to get it together.

"So, I thought we were about to trend and then we lose Rondo and [Jared] Sullinger, which hurt us as well. But our team kept going. We clearly miss a lot of things without Rondo, especially end-of-the-game situations being one of them. We have to be more creative. But our guys have hung in there and we have two pretty good players. Kevin Garnett's not bad and neither is Paul Pierce. And having those two guys to kind of hold the fort together has been huge for us."

On advancing the ball more without Rondo: "I just know that our guys look for him because they want him to have the ball, and sometimes they probably could have thrown the ball ahead. I'm a big believer in the advance pass and there were times, yeah, I think our bigs, especially, instead of just advancing it up the floor, would wait to get it back to Rondo. Now, because we really don't have a primary ball handler. I've talked to a couple of guys that we've faced, coaching-wise, and they said, 'That's the most difficult thing now.' They're not sure where the heck the ball's going to be. It's funny, I was telling one of my friends, who's a coach in the league, 'I don't either.' We just advance it and we spread it and we move it and we try to let the ball find the open guy. Because, quite honestly, we don't have a guy good enough anymore who can just handle the ball and run the show. So why fight it? And we haven't."

On how long it's been since the NBA has seen a defender like Avery Bradley: "It's been a long time. I know there's been someone else since Scottie Pippen, but I really can't think of him, and I know there has been, I'm just not giving it enough thought. But he does it night-in and night-out, and even when he's guarding a guy that's not a scorer, but he's guarding the ball, what he's done for us is allow us to play defense at shorter times. I think our average now, since Avery's been back, is teams are getting into their offense -- and that means making the first pass to start the play -- at 10 seconds and 12 seconds. To have to just play defense for 12 seconds compared to 18 and 20 seconds just makes a huge difference in our defense. And when you look at our numbers since he's been back, I think we were 23rd defensively and now we're down to ninth or seventh, which means we're really one or two if you just go on the average since he's been back. It's made a huge difference."

On the league-wide struggles on the road: "Well I think a lot of teams are better, number one. It's funny, as a player, I loved the road, because I just loved the silence of the crowd when you win there. I know that was just what I enjoyed. But it does take you out of your norm, out of your comfort zone. And the more new players and the more role players you have, the more difficult it is to win on the road. The more stars you have, the more guys who are great on the night-in and night-out basis, the better you are on the road. I thought with all the changes we made -- early on we were really struggling on the road, now I think we're starting to find ourselves a little bit."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 83-81 on Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Jeff Green muscled in a layup with 0.5 seconds remaining off a feed from Kevin Garnett -- a beautifully designed final play as the Celtics overcame a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Pacers on their home floor. Garnett scored a team-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while Avery Bradley and Paul Pierce each had 13 points. Paul George scored a team-high 16 points for Indiana, while David West (11 points, 16 rebounds) and Roy Hibbert (12 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

THE FINAL MINUTE
The Celtics simply refused to roll over and battled back multiple times in this game. Bradley sneaked free for an uncontested layup with 1:21 to go to tie the game at 81. After each team missed chances to pull ahead, the Celtics got a final-shot opportunity. Green fed Garnett on the left elbow, then curled around and received the ball, storming the baseline. He fumbled the ball a bit but was able to muscle it in for the winning bucket with a half-second to go.

C'S CAN'T CLOSE FIRST HALF
With the Pacers threatening to open a double-digit lead, the Celtics got some momentum late in the first half by making it a one-possession game. But things unraveled in a hurry. Looking to go 2-for-1, Bradley got blocked on a baseline drive and George delivered a dunk in transition. Pierce turned the ball over the next trip down, and West converted a three-point play as Indy's lead went back to nine. The Pacers pushed their lead as high as 14 midway through the third quarter (Lance Stephenson capped a 7-0 run with a dunk for a 63-49 lead).

C'S MAKE THEIR RUN
The Celtics knocked their deficit to 10 after three quarters and scored the first five points of the final frame to make things interesting again. When the Pacers went cold, Boston clawed within a point, but George Hill scored eight points for Indiana in 61 seconds -- two 3-pointers and a dunk in transition after a Hibbert block -- and the lead was soon at nine (81-72 with 4:36 to go). But Boston simply would not go quietly, storming back and setting up Green's heroics.

MENACE IN THE MIDDLE
In just over eight minutes of first-quarter play, Hibbert posted 12 points (on 6-of-9 shooting) with seven rebounds and a block while absolutely dominating play at the defensive end of the floor. The Pacers led 27-19 after the frame. He didn't score another point the rest of the night.

D.J.'S DEBUT
D.J. White, in his third game with Boston since inking a 10-day contract, made his debut to start the second quarter. He played 3:43, grabbing two rebounds and blocking two shots, while missing his only field goal attempt.

KG JOINS TOP 10 IN BOARDS
After leapfrogging Hakeem Olajuwon last week, Garnett shuffled into the top 10 all time in rebounds, moving past Wes Unseld into 10th place with 10 caroms on the night. Garnett has some work to do to move higher -- Walt Bellamy is 467 rebounds ahead of him in ninth place.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Garnett and Hibbert got matching technicals late in the fourth quarter for some post-whistle jostling. For Garnett, it's his team-leading seventh technical foul of the season.

WHAT IT MEANS
Wow, what a win for Boston. The Celtics could have rolled over on the second night of a back-to-back multiple times but hung in there and found a way to emerge with a gutsy win. That's four in a row for Boston, which is a season-high six games over .500. The Celtics get a day off before hosting the Hawks on Friday night at TD Garden. They are back on the road for two games after that, including Sunday's national TV battle in Oklahoma City.

PHOENIX -- Reaction to the Boston Celtics' defeat of the Phoenix Suns 113-88 on Friday night at the US Airways Center:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Starting in place of Kevin Garnett (a rest day), Jeff Green scored a season-high 31 points on super-efficient 11-of-14 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals. Green was nothing short of spectacular in 39 minutes of play, finishing plus-26 in plus/minus. Avery Bradley was the only other Boston starter in double figures (13 points), while the Celtics got a boost from their newest faces in Jordan Crawford (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Terrence Williams (9 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds). Chris Wilcox added 14 points -- almost all of the dunk variety -- on 7-of-9 shooting over 21:37.

FAST START FOR C'S
The Celtics scored the game's first 13 points to set the tone for the night. Goran Dragic broke up the shutout with a 12-foot floater with 8:18 to play in the quarter. Green scored 13 first-quarter points (on 5-of-6 shooting), and Boston led 28-20 after the frame (the Suns shot a mere 36.4 percent over those first 12 minutes).

TURNING POINT
The Celtics started the first half quickly and finished it strong as well. Up seven with little more than two minutes to play in the second quarter, Boston went on a little 7-0 burst highlighted by Brandon Bass' hustle putback dunk and Bradley's layup, which put Boston up 53-39. The Celtics were up 12 at halftime and absolutely blew the doors off the game in the fourth quarter.

CRAWFORD DEBUTS FOR BOSTON
Crawford made his Boston debut when he checked in with 2:04 to play in the first quarter. Crawford missed his first two attempts but buried a corner 3-pointer early in the second frame, bowing his head as if relieved to get his first points. In the fourth quarter, Crawford added two buckets by attacking the basket, then buried another triple. Crawford finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting over 17:18.

PAIN IN THE NECK
Given all the injury woes Boston has endured recently, Celtics fans held their collective breath when Paul Pierce left the game holding his neck as the second half began. It appeared to simply be a stinger (remember, too, that Pierce battled a pinched nerve earlier in the year). He worked through the pain and quickly returned to the floor.

WHAT IT MEANS
Go ahead and use up your "The Celtics are better without KG!" jokes. Green was otherworldly, with his best all-around game in a Boston uniform (even beyond the scoring, he was spectacular). Even rookie Fab Melo got 3:42 of floor time with the Celtics up big in the final minutes. The Celtics have an off day Saturday before closing out this five-game road trip with a back-to-back on Sunday (Portland) and Monday (Utah). Some much-needed rest (and practice time for the newcomers) looms after the trip with just one game on the schedule over the next seven days.

BOSTON -- Steve Nash celebrated his 39th birthday on Thursday, but it was Avery Bradley who made him feel a little old.

Bradley spent time in the days leading up to Thursday's showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers watching game film of Nash. The 22-year-old guard was struck by how few opponents pressured the former two-time MVP, seemingly afraid to get shown up by his slick ballhandling.

With some encouragement from one of Nash's former teammates, Leandro Barbosa, Bradley made it his goal to make this a birthday to forget for Nash.

And he succeeded as part of Boston's 116-95 triumph over the Lakers at TD Garden.

"Nash is obviously one of the best point guards to ever play," said Bradley. "I just tried to make everything hard on him. He's not used to pressure. I was watching film on him and nobody pressured him. That was my main focus, trying to make everything as hard as possible. He's a great ball-handler, but I don't care. I care about getting stops, so I just go out and play as hard as I can."

Nash finished with a modest nine points and five assists over 27:44 and was minus-7 in plus/minus. He didn't turn the ball over, but Bradley was a constant pest and it left Nash willing to give up the ball rather than deal with Bradley more.

According to individual defensive data logged by Synergy Sports, Nash was 2-of-6 shooting for four points in possessions that finished against Bradley. Doc Rivers made it a point to single out Bradley's impact on the game.

"He just wore Steve Nash down," said Rivers. "He was killing us, Nash was, at the beginning [of the game]. But that relentless ball pressure, eventually Nash became a passer. And anyone would. That's just heart, and that's what Avery does. He's got the ability to just stay in there and defend, and he wants to."

Barbosa, Nash's backup in Phoenix, admitted he's rarely seen anyone do what Bradley did by picking Nash up full court and making him work whenever possible.

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The Celtics have been so game-heavy lately, we haven't had a chance to dip into our Celtics Mailbag. Plucking a question off the top to field in the blog. Hop HERE to submit a question:

Q: Is Avery Bradley now considered "injury prone?" -- @jrmpk316 (via Twitter)

A: After Bradley missed Friday's game against the Bulls with a rib injury, we got this question a lot on Twitter and in the mailbag. Bradley has endured his share of maladies as a pro, starting with the ankle injury sustained in a pre-draft workout with the Oklahoma City Thunder that might have contributed to him sliding to the Celtics at No. 19 in the 2010 draft.

Last season Bradley endured the shoulder woes that ultimately ended his season in the playoffs and forced him to have a pair of surgeries this offseason. His rehab caused him to miss the first 30 games this season before returning earlier this month.

Injury prone? That has such a negative connotation. It suggests an inherent fragility. Celtics coach Doc Rivers explained on Friday that Bradley's tenacity on the floor simply leaves him more susceptible to injury than most.

"Avery’s going to be a guy that’s going to miss games here and there, because he plays so hard," said Rivers. "You want him to play that hard, but you have to know that, going into every season, that means he’ll miss some games, because of how hard he plays."

Rivers reiterated that stance when asked if Bradley was injury prone on Saturday.

"Well, he just plays hard. Guys like that are going to get injured, and that's fine by me. It really is," said Rivers. "I want him to play the way he plays. He'll probably get better at it as his career goes on and then have less and less. But [Cleveland's Anderson] Varejao gets hurt all the time -- he plays hard. There's a group of guys -- Delonte [West], Kirk Hinrich is one of those guys, he's always in the scrum. But you can't do without those guys either and what they do is really important for your team. So you would never tell them not to."

The Celtics are 6-2 in the eight games that Bradley has played since returning from the shoulder rehab. While X-rays taken on Bradley's ribs Saturday were negative, Rivers listed him as doubtful for Sunday's game in Detroit.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Celtics guard Avery Bradley underwent another set of X-rays on Saturday to check on the status of the rib injury he suffered in Wednesday's loss to the New Orleans Hornets and kept him out of Friday's loss to the Chicago Bulls, coach Doc Rivers said Saturday.

A team spokesman later noted the X-rays came back negative. Rivers previously stressed that Bradley's condition hasn't worsened at all, but that the lack of improvement prompted another test.

"They just want to make sure (his ribs aren’t) cracked or something like that. I think the X-ray showed it wasn't, but maybe do a deeper one just to make sure."

Rivers said Bradley could still travel with the team for the upcoming two-game road trip, but listed him as doubtful for Sunday's matchup with the Pistons.

"It just didn't improve," Rivers said. "He was better. He told me he felt much better and then today he said, 'Man, I just feel the same,' so that's not an improvement."

Bradley made his season debut on Jan. 2 after recovering from offseason shoulder surgeries and helped lift Boston to a 6-2 record over the eight games he played in before missing Friday's matchup with Chicago.

Read on for more notes, including Lenandro Barbosa reaffirming he didn't ask for a trade and Rivers upset with jump-ball sequence late in Friday's loss to Bulls.

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BOSTON -- The Celtics are still reaping the benefits of the Avery Bradley Effect as they pushed their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 100-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night and moved to 6-1 overall since Bradley returned from offseason shoulder surgery on Jan. 2.

While much of Bradley's impact has manifested itself on the defensive end, he put forth a steady reminder on Monday that he can be a viable option in Boston's offense as well. Bradley produced a season-high 16 points against Charlotte, knocking down six of his 10 shots and finishing 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point nation.

Bradley's defensive assignments were clear, with Charlotte boasting a solid stable of guards, including Kemba Walker, Ben Gordon and Ramon Sessions. But amid applying his typical relentless ball pressure, Bradley took advantage of his openings on the other end of the floor, kicking things off with a strong baseline drive less than 20 seconds into the game.

From there Bradley extended his range, sticking to his customary spots in the corners -- the sources of all four of his 3-pointers.

"It's a shot that we end up getting a lot," Bradley said prior to Monday's game, not knowing he would have his finest performance of the season from those spots. "Me, Jeff Green, Courtney [Lee], we end up getting that shot a lot, so it's a real important shot for us to knock down, because it's usually wide open."

Bradley knocked down two of his four 3-pointers in the second frame as Boston upped its lead as high as 18 at one point and provided a crucial 3-point make in the third quarter to help fend off a charge from the Bobcats. With Boston's lead down to four nearly halfway through that third frame, Bradley took a pass from Rondo and buried his final make from distance, giving Boston a seven-point edge and a bit more breathing room.

"[Bradley's] big for us on both ends of the floor," Rondo said. "So we know what we have as a player in Avery."

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BOSTON -- In practice, Kevin Garnett calls them "The Pitbulls." To the media, he refers to their presence together as "Helter Skelter."

But no matter what description Garnett bestows on the duo of Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee, the message is clear: Their defensive intensity -- on-ball pressure in particular -- has emerged as one of the most potent factors in Boston's recent resurgence, evidenced by a current five-game win streak.

Bradley's return from offseason shoulder surgeries was always expected to give the C's a shot in the arm, but little did anyone know that he and Lee would emerge as such a considerable 1-2 punch of defensive vigor.

The two have rarely been paired together in the six games since Bradley returned -- sharing the court for a mere seven minutes -- but the two operate as defensive baton-passers of sort. Their responsibilities are often the same: Check the opponent's best perimeter player. Bradley might get the initial assignment, but Lee is more than happy to pick up wherever he leaves off.

"I call them 'Helter Skelter,'" Garnett said before Friday's 103-91 victory over the Rockets. "They've definitely given us a different light in the sense of where we've been able to push up and pressure on. Avery's been like a hope of life, if not a beam of light, lately, and an inspiration to all of us, and we're just feeding off of that. But they give us a different dynamic from a defending standpoint. Offensively, you know what you're going to get from both guys. They're one-on-one players, they can put the ball in the basket, and they're both competitors. But from a defensive standpoint, we follow that lead."

Lee was later informed of Garnett's glowing praise.

"We just take it as a compliment," he said. "It started with that New York game, because that was pretty much the first time me and Avery got a chance to play extended minutes together. The thing we were trying to do is pressure the ball and make them run the offense with like 16 or less on the clock and we were able to do that."

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