Boston went to work on Denver's weakness and punished a fellow would-be title contender mercilessly.

From an execution and cohesion standpoint, they passed the eye test with flying colors, winning for the fifth time in six tries.

So, are they back?

Technically, I'm of the opinion the real Boston Celtics never left.

Entering March on the heels of an embarrassing matinee loss in New Jersey, it was easy to want to write Boston off as a has-been. The Celtics looked like a paper top-four seed, primed for a steep fall at the hands of sizzling Milwaukee.

Anyone still want that action?

Those guys wearing Celtics uniforms during much of 2010's first two months were zombies. They were a team that hoped to win instead of hoping to ruin your day. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were out there concerned with no hurting themselves. Neither felt anywhere close to 100 percent, which when you get to their age, is like walking the tightrope minus the net. Ray Allen was worried about getting traded. Understandably, that affected his play.

Despite all the rumors and perceived chaos, Ainge kept the nucleus together, and now that Garnett and Pierce are no longer as concerned with doing their bodies harm, the focus turns to dishing it out.

Boston's 113-99 rout of the vulnerable Nuggets officially clinched a playoff berth, but what it really did was put a championship threat back on display. Denver just lost to the Knicks on Tuesday, so you know its struggling, but what was most impressive about how the Celtics handled this was that they never gave it much of a chance to think it had a chance. The win itself was virtually wire-to-wire, with the Nuggets working awfully hard just to hang around for 15 minutes, taking its last lead at 34-33 early in the second quarter. Boston never led by less than seven points for the entire second half.

Kenyon Martin is currently wearing out his suit collection and hoping to get back in a month's time, Nene is going through a lull and Chris Andersen and Johan Petro too one-dimensional to seriously hurt them, the Celtics went to work on controlling the paint. They scored 58 points inside, controlled the boards, 45-36, and won the second-chance battle, 23-8.

With the paint locked down, Rajon Rondo went to work on Chauncey Billups and set the pace for the game, pitching in with 11 rebounds to round out a triple-double.

The pick-your-poison element is back, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson and Tony Allen are stepping up and the contributions of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels figure to intensify as the stakes get higher.

Many of the nagging issues that have been whispering of the demise of these Celtics might wind up being rectified by the time 82 games are played. Their current six-game homestand is their longest stint of the season, which means they can get situated in a nice routine of games and practices in Waltham. The lack of travel will lighten the load on the legs, as will the improved depth. The relatively unimpressive 22-12 home record they carried into Wednesday's win over the Nuggets has a great shot at being beefed up.

Suddenly, pursuit of the No. 2 seed doesn't seem far-fetched, since Boston's win and Orlando's loss in Atlanta pulled the Celtics within 3.5 of the Magic, who do hold the head-to-head tie-breaker. At the very least, Doc Rivers' mantra that he likes his team and believes in its abilities can stop sounding like he's clinging to false hope. Talk of an early burial should now also cease.

Barring another injury-related setback, the Boston Celtics are very much alive. Dangerous, too. In their minds, losing their grasp on the title last season was simply an unfortunate break due to Garnett's absence.

He's back, they're rounding into form and the Eastern Conference playoff picture just got a lot more interesting.

Tony Mejia is senior writer of Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at mejia@probasketballnews.com.