By BRIAN A. LESTER

Note: The opinions here do not represent those of Inside Hoops

If I were the Boston Celtics, I would go find a church at some point before Thursday and spend some time praying for help.

Never mind that it's the Philadelphia 76ers who seem to need all the help they can get from above after the Celtics looked as sharp as a bride and groom on their wedding day in a 92-82 victory in the opening game of this first-round playoff series.

Never mind that Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker carved up the 76ers to the tune of 31 and 20 points, respectively. And never mind that as a team, the Celtics shot close to 44 percent from the floor and led by as many as 17 en route to their first postseason win since 1995.

It's only one game. There is still time for Philadelphia to get back into this series and come out on top when the smoke clears and the dust finally settles.

Why? Because Allen Iverson had a bad game on Sunday and one has to believe Iverson isn't going to let that happen again.

I just can't see it happening. Iverson is a lot like Michael Jordan was back in the day. A bad game for Jordan always meant bad news for opponents in future games.

Iverson is the same way. It is probably eating him up inside that he played poorly against Boston, and it's a safe bet that he will do everything in his power to make up for his personal shortcomings.

Iverson, after all, is gutsy and has a never-say-die attitude. He is a fighter and he is a fierce competitor who plays with more heart than anyone else in the NBA.

Forget the fact that Iverson was just 4-of-15 from the floor and missed all four of his shot attempts from beyond the arc on Sunday. Forget the fact that he scored only 20 points and that only five of those points -- all from the free-throw line -- came after the opening quarter. And forget the fact that Iverson had only two assists, two steals and turned the ball over three times.

Iverson will bounce back in a big way for the rest of this series. He will put this bad day at the office behind him and come out playing like the reigning Most Valuable Player that he is starting Thursday night in Game Two at the Fleet Center.

Anything less would be a surprise.

What isn't a surprise, however, is that Iverson did struggle in Game One. Remember, he missed the final 14 games of the regular season because of a broken hand and because of that layoff, there is obviously going to be a layer of rust on his game. Naturally, it's going to take a little time for him to get his groove back.

I believe Sunday's game gave Iverson an opportunity to do just that. His 15-point, first-quarter outburst was evidence of that. Sure, he played poorly the rest of the way but Iverson still had an opportunity to get back into the flow of playing basketball again.

The bottom line is that Iverson will show up to play Thursday. He was the reason behind Philadelphia's run to the NBA Finals a year ago and one bad game isn't going to strike fear into his heart or create self-doubt in his mind.

And once Iverson gets going again, it's Boston that won't have a prayer in this series against Philadelphia.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com.