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The Celtics struggled mightily in the second half against the Blazers, who were missing two starters, then lost Jerryd Bayless (sprained left ankle) a minute into the third quarter. Ray Allen was especially off target, but he recovered to convert the go-ahead 3-pointer in OT, then assisted on Tony Allen’s dunk, the final basket of the game.

“It wasn’t pretty,’’ Rivers said. “But in some ways, for us, the way we won may have been better for us.’’

As hoped for, the Garnett-inspired defense got the Celtics going early. And, though the Celtics faded after halftime (they were outscored, 41-36, in the second half), they led by as many as 8 points down the stretch. But the Celtics stumbled into overtime, failing to score in the final 2:36 of the fourth quarter.

In overtime, the Blazers took a 95-93 lead and had possession following a missed 3-pointer by Ray Allen. Andre Miller’s drive was off target and the Celtics stripped the rebound from Juwan Howard, setting the stage for Ray Allen’s go-ahead three with 41.3 seconds left. The Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge missed out of a timeout and Howard again controlled the rebound, tipping it toward Miller. But the ball ended up with Ray Allen, who advanced it to Tony Allen alone under the basket with 12.5 seconds to go. The Blazers’ final chance ended with two missed 3-pointers by Rudy Fernandez.

“Ray’s a shooter and you’ve just got to keep shooting,’’ Rivers said. “Listen, he had one of those nights. But shooters shoot and, eventually, you just have to think [about] the odds - every miss meant the odds were on our side more.’’

The Celtics’ method of victory could not have been more dramatic. They were 4-6 without Garnett and had won only four of 12 games since Dec. 25. Late-game collapses had characterized the losses, and the Celtics were following that pattern again last night.

Ray Allen missed two technical foul shots and both he and Pierce airballed 3-point attempts. Nobody seemed able to contain Miller (28 points) or Martell Webster (19 points).