MILWAUKEEThere was no way to ignore the jubilation surrounding the Celtics' locker room following their 96-92 win over the Bucks.
For a team that tries to treat each win as just another successful night, Saturday's victory over Milwaukee was more than that.
It was the first game this season that the Celtics walked off the floor and actually felt good about how they played.
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Sure, there were some rough patches along the way and yes, the lulls when Kevin Garnett takes a break were still apparent.
But the positives gained from Saturday far outweigh any of the setbacks experienced as the C's (3-3) are back to .500.
"This is more than a 'W' here," said Boston's Jason Terry who got his first start of the season and responded with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting. "This is one that can propel you to good things."
Terry added, "this is Celtics basketball."
Even Coach Doc Rivers had to acknowledge that Saturday's win, while still counting as just one of what Boston hopes will be many, was indeed a special one.
"It was a good win because it was a hard win," Rivers said. "I told them, 'it's one win.' We just have to keep learning each other. When you bring in eight new guys to a basketball team, you're going to have some struggles. And we're struggling, and still won the game. That's good."
And it is that struggle to find a way to win - and actually win - that may be just what this team needs right now.
"Coach Rivers has talked the last three days about grinding it out," Terry said. "Whatever it takes to get the job done. Its not going to be pretty."
But for a team in transition, a team that's still searching for an identity, finding ways to win on the road - pretty or not pretty - is indeed a sign of growth.
And that kind of growth is hard to ignore.