When the Boston Celtics take the court Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, they won't be simply tying to survive. Instead, the rejuvenated green team will be trying to "make a statement," in the words of captain Paul Pierce, that they can be competitive with the defending NBA champion.

"We're really bitter with the way the season ended last year so we're excited to get back out there and get back to competition," said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. "We still remember Game 7 down in Miami and Game 6 here. We had two opportunities to advance to the NBA Finals, so that's still in the back of our minds. We're going to go down there and really try to make a statement." - CBS Boston

The Heat ousted the Celtics in that seven game Eastern Conference Finals series one season ago. Boston built a 3-2 lead after dropping the first two games of the series, only to see LeBron James and the Heat storm back to win the final two games emphatically and cruise to the NBA Finals, where they would beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games.

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