How are the Celtics doing this?

It was beautiful, textbook basketball.

First, the Sacramento Kings got a layup directly off the opening tip. Crisp passing led to open jumpers. Backdoor cuts led to uncontested layups and dunks.

In the first few minutes of the game, the ball barely touched the floor for the Kings, and they were up 15-2 on the Boston Celtics before fans at the Fleet Center were even in their seats.

Your final score: Boston 91, Sacramento 82.

Two nights later at Conseco Field House, the Celts found themselves down 48-34 at halftime to the Indiana Pacers as Jermaine O'Neal exploded for 21 points and nine rebounds in the first two quarters.

Your final score: Boston 78, Indiana 76.

Both the Kings and the Pacers have loads more talent than the Celtics, which begs the question, how are the Celtics doing this?

When Boston traded Antione Walker and Tony Delk to the Dallas Mavericks during training camp, it was supposed to set Beantown back for a least a year. And while the 4-4 Celtics aren't exactly world beaters, they have changed their style of play to the point where they can now hang with almost every team they play.

But looking down the roster, it's easy to ask how.

Paul Pierce shot a combined 14-34 in the two wins, and thus far he is getting to the line just five times a contest (last year he averaged 9.5 free throws per game). But that's because with Walker gone, he is the sole bona fide offensive option on the squad, and opponents are swarming him when he has the ball.

The good news is that, thus far, Pierce has done a good job looking to dish the rock rather than take low percentage shots.

Eric Williams provided the team with a huge spark coming off the bench in the Sacramento game, and he has done so all year. He uses his body as well as anyone in the league to draw fouls.

Jiri Welsch is unquestionably one of the worst European shooters in the NBA. We expect guys like Kedrick Brown, who grew up watching Sportscenter, practicing dunks, and avoiding college like the plague, to be bad shooters. But after Peja Stojakovic and Dirk Nowitzki, we expect our European players to be sharpshooters.

Yet Welsch plays solid defense, and when he gets into the lane, his long arms and court vision allow him to find open teammates.

Speaking of Brown, he seems to be finding his niche: running the floor, skying for rebounds, playing lockdown D, and limiting the number of times he shoots the ball from outside ten feet.

Newcomer Raef Lafrentz has done a good job for the Celtics. His three pointers haven't been dropping as much as the team would like, but he runs the floor, plays smart, and works feverishly on the offensive glass for tip-ins. And for $62 million dollars over the next six years, you would hope he would.

Tony Battie has been solid, and Mark Blount actually looks somewhat like an NBA player rather than someone who got drafted merely on the basis of being seven feet tall.

As for Vinny Baker, what can you say? Even cynics have to be happy for Baker, who after a summer of alcohol rehab seems to have his life and his game in order. He's slimmer, faster, and the J is falling, as evidenced by his game-winning pull-up jumper over O'Neal in the victory over the Pacers.

Even the last men on the bench, Walter McCarty and Jumaine Jones, are solid role players.

In many ways, the Celtics are reminiscent of the 2001 Philadelphia 76ers team that made it all the way to the NBA finals. Like this year's Celtics, the Philadelphia team wasn't incredibly talented, but it had a group of scrappy, hardworking forwards who knew their role and played off a superstar guard, in that case Allen Iverson.

In fact, the only thing really keeping Boston from contending for an Eastern Conference title is the lack of a quality point guard -- and remember that they passed over Tony Parker and Jamaal Tinsley to select Joe Forte.

Currently, the Celtics feature the fearsome point guard tandem of Mike James and Marcus Banks. James, who was handed the starting job in camp, has no court vision and has trouble getting the ball past half court at times.

Marcus Banks is fast and fearless, and that's about where the positives end, at least until he develops. He dribbles the ball higher than anyone else in the NBA (almost up to neck level a la third grade style), looks for his own shot too much, and takes the phrase "out of control" to a whole new level.

The Celtics have been playing a defense oriented game with a focus on rebounding and running, but if the point guards can't get the big men the ball when they're open on the break, they will stop running the floor.