According to one source, the steady stream of trash talk is getting a bit unseemly to some.

``There have been teams that have talked a lot of (expletive), but usually those are the bad teams,'' he said. ``And this is different from the stuff Larry (Bird) used to do. This is overt trash talking, and really I think they can take that stuff too far sometimes. Forget about the fact it doesn't look good from the defending champions, I think it takes away from them.''

Coach Doc Rivers said last week that he doesn't want to in any way douse his team's competitive fire, and he has a very good point there. But he also noted that he'd like his players to pick their spots a little better.

In the latter case, he was referring mainly to chatter with referees, and this is the issue that most could impact the Celtics in a critical situation. The bottom line is that the officials are getting their fill of the Bostonian complaints.

Said one ref last week, ``Someone needs to explain to those guys that not every call we make is wrong.''

The contentiousness is written all over the stat sheet. Coming into the weekend, the Celtics had 25 technical fouls for conduct. Phoenix was second with 13. And be wary of the inflated technical stats you may have read that include defensive three-second calls.

Does anyone honestly believe the Celts are getting twice as many bad whistles as another team? (Put your hand down, Tommy.)

Some techs are unavoidable when players squeezing out every ounce of effort believe they have been wronged, but the Celtics are hoping to avoid a situation where their reputation helps net them one at a key moment in a meaningful game.

Wham-bam thanks, Sam

Sam Mitchell couldn't have been totally caught off guard by his firing - and not just because the Raptors lost by a hideous 39 points in Denver on Tuesday to fall under .500.

Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo told Mitchell that night he was considering a change, but he said he wanted to sleep on it. When Colangelo woke up, the newspapers confirmed the 39-point loss and his gut told him to make the move he had been thinking about for some time. The fact he inherited Mitchell may have been a factor, as well, but he gave him his shot.

Colangelo had actually pondered firing Mitchell after the quick five-game playoff loss to Orlando last spring. He also noted the loss to the Celtics in Boston (where the Raptors blew a big lead) and an OT fall against New Jersey.

``We weren't getting the maximum from our roster,'' Colangelo said. ``It was time to change. This wasn't all about Sam's failings as a coach. We are not a team without flaws. I'm wearing (8-9 record at the time) like Sam's wearing it.

``We haven't lost confidence in the roster, but our players have been down the past couple of weeks. They've lost that swagger. Now there are no more excuses with regards to Sam Mitchell as coach.''

While some believe unhappiness among the players may have helped push Mitchell out the door, Chris Bosh said, ``We don't make the calls. No matter what we do or what we say, it's all on the people in the front office to change that.''

Bosh also took umbrage when asked about changes for the underachieving club.

``What is underachieving?'' he replied. ``The season isn't over. We're one game under .500 and it's early on. It could be a lot worse. I don't know if you underachieve in a couple of games (two losses on this road trip). That's a couple of games you can't do anything about. Underachieving is on a long-term basis.''

The most visible change should be the Raptors' pace. Colangelo and new coach Jay Triano favor a running game.

The generally combative Mitchell seemed to take his firing well, perhaps because he's still got almost three years left on his contract.

``At our coaches' meeting this morning, Sam said something like this might happen,'' Triano said Wednesday. ``He said, `I hope one of you in this room gets the job.' He was at ease with that and thanked all of us.''

Triano did get the job. Alex English and Mike Evans didn't.

Fiddlin' and diddlin'

There doesn't appear to be much sense in the whole Stephon Marbury mess. But if it's going to get solved, there will have to be a lot of dollars.

A meeting last week to discuss a buyout didn't go particularly well, and Marbury is now said to be digging in his heels even more.

Word is the Knicks are trying to save around $3 million of the $18 million Marbury has left for this season. He was willing to chop a bit off the $18 mill, but now he wants what the contract states. . . .

Yet another reason to be thankful for Rajon Rondo: Minnesota was hoping Randy Foye would take over as point guard mainstay, but he's been taken out of the starting lineup twice this season - first for Sebastian Telfair and most recently for Kevin Ollie, who will turn 36 before this year is over. . . .

Charles Barkley had another good one last week when discussing Miami's Shawn Marion: ``What all these players are learning is that they have all been a figment of (former Suns coach) Mike D'Antoni's system,'' he said. ``You know Shawn Marion, I tried to tell him, `You're a terrific player but you're not a great player. Stay here in Phoenix and relax instead of going and saying you want to be the man.' Now you can't even find him with a GPS.'' . . .

Nobody wins unless everybody wins. - sbulpett@bostonherald.com