01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 24, 2005

BY DAN HICKLING
Special to the Journal

NEW YORK -- Tempers were at high boil in the first half, during which seven technical fouls (four against the Celtics) was called.

Four of the technicals came in one contentious 13-second stretch, less than four minutes into the game, beginning with a jawing match between Ricky Davis -- who was on the bench at the time -- and the Knicks' Stephon Marbury.

Moments later, Boston's Paul Pierce and Tim Thomas of the Knicks got into it, and another double technical was assessed.

Just eight seconds later, Raef LaFrentz was whistled for a flagrant foul after horse-collaring New York's Mike Sweetney under the New York basket.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers felt his team's lack of composure contributed to its defeat.

"It's nice to have pride in your team," he said. "But I thought we went over the line. We had guys yapping with guys on the bench, and all of that (garbage). That's not winning basketball."

Antoine Walker played down the notion that the team's recent winning ways had made the Celtics overconfident.

"We're a confident team," he said, "and we believe in our ability. But we beat ourselves tonight."

We can be better

Even though the Celtics have played well the last four weeks (11 wins in their last 13 games), Rivers feels there is room for improvement.

"We're hot, and we've won a lot of games," Rivers said. "But at the end of the day, we can be a much better basketball team."

He was referring to the team's propensity for committing turnovers at the wrong times. Despite owning the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, Boston is near the bottom of the league in that category.

"If there is something that has hurt us all year," Rivers said, "it's that we're a very good passing team, and we're 27th in turnovers. That doesn't go together. So for us to be really good down the road, we have to fix that."

Allen paying his dues

Rivers said the development of rookie guard Tony Allen as a defender will be crucial to the team's future.

"The Bulls had Scottie (Pippin)," he said. "Detroit had Dennis (Rodman), and the Spurs have Bruce Bowen. And the Lakers had Michael Cooper. We do have to develop somebody that can go get (the opposing team's top scorer) and shut him down. And that's Tony."

Unlike the aforementioned players, who blossomed into their roles after at least a few years in the league, Allen is being asked to step in right away and do the job, without first having gained the respect of the officials.

"That's the problem," Rivers said. "We done that, but they (the referees) give him fouls. So if I had a big concern, that would be it. If he's guarding Kobe Bryant and it could go either way, Tony Allen is not getting that call. And I feel bad for him. But I think the more he works at it, the more his reputation will grow and the more (slack) he'll be allowed. My speech to him is to stay physical and be aggressive."

Walker more mature?

So much has been said about the impact that the reacquisition of Walker has had on the Celtics.

New York coach Herb Williams commented on how Walker may have matured in his 1 1/2 seasons away from Boston.

"I'm not sure if he's doing anything differently," said Williams, who took over on Jan. 22 after the firing of the legendary Lenny Wilkens. "He seems to be more focused. His approach to the game seems to be a lot different. I'm not saying it was bad before, because he was an All-Star and he played well. But, for some reason, with the trade, after watching him play, I don't see a lot of the antics that he used to (pull). He seems more serious about what he's doing."