"Celtics coach Doc Rivers lost faith in his bench during the last two weeks.

As his reserves continually came up short during the team's first-round playoff series against Chicago, he cut their minutes back to single digits.

But on the eve of Saturday's Game 7 win at the Garden, backup point guard Stephon Marbury wanted Rivers to know he still was there.

"Steph called me (Friday) night and said, 'Coach, you can lean on me,' and I said, 'Good, because I'm going to need you,' " Rivers said. "What I told Steph, I told all the guys on the bench. I kept telling guys like Mikki Moore to keep your head in this series because the time's going to come for you."

That time isn't finished.

The Celtics begin their second-round series tonight against Orlando at the Garden, and Rivers' demand of his reserves hasn't changed.

And at least now he knows there's some life on the far end of the pine.

The Celtics bench responded with easily its best performance of the series in Game 7. Thanks largely to Eddie House's return to the living, by halftime the reserves had surpassed their scoring total in any of the previous six games.

By the final buzzer, House was 5-for-5 from the field for 16 points, had combined with Brian Scalabrine to shoot 6-of-7 from downtown and had led a C's bench that scored a total of 30 points.

Meanwhile, Marbury held the group together during one of the game's most pivotal junctures - early in a 22-2 second-quarter run.

Marbury's career generally has been framed as one where stats are king, but on a night in which he had only one assist and two points, his value was measured quite differently.

"Steph saved it," Rivers said. "He saved the day in that stretch. He came in and played terrific for us. So, you know, in a series that our bench hadn't given us much, they were phenomenal."

Marbury was happy he made the call to Doc.

"I wanted to let (Rivers) know," Marbury said. "This has been difficult for me. This isn't my style of play, I'm not used to playing this way, and it took me time to make an adjustment.

"It's been a humbling experience. Having this opportunity means the world to me, and I wanted to let him know that I was ready for Game 7 - that I was ready to do what was needed off the bench."

The question now is when that call from Rivers comes again."