OKLAHOMA CITY — Brandon Bass sits at his locker stall, slowly but surely getting ready to disappear into the night with the rest of his teammates.

Despite being 6-foot-8, 250 pounds, there have been many nights where finding Bass hasn't been easy. But lately, he's shown up on the court in a big way for the Celtics who could not make the most of Bass' huge rebounding night as the C's lost 91-79 to Oklahoma City.

Bass grabbed a career-high tying 13 rebounds for the Celtics, providing the kind of inside toughness the C's have not seen enough of from him.

"That's the Brandon we need every night," said Paul Pierce. "We don't have a lot of room for error on this team. We need everybody to come and play each and every night. Brandon was fantastic. He didn't get the ball a lot of times. He didn't have a lot of opportunities. He was workhorse for the most part; he kept us in it."

When Bass arrived in Boston via sign-and-trade with Orlando prior to the start of last season, he came with the reputation of being a good pick-and-pop shooter who was challenged defensively.

Rajon Rondo's passing game seemed a perfect match for Bass' skills, evident by his averaging a career-high 12.5 points last season along with 4.6 rebounds per game which was also a career-high.

But with Rondo out for the season with a torn right ACL injury, the roles for many Celtics players has changed, Bass included.

With Boston playing so much smaller for longer stretches now, Bass' pick-and-pop game is no longer needed as much because the Celtics typically have a bevy of shooters in the game. Instead,  Bass has looked to drive to the basket off the dribble more.

But the biggest change to his game in terms of his approach, has to do with rebounding and defense -- two things that he knows have to be priorities if he is to help the C's be successful.

"Me coming out defending at a high level and rebound at a high level," Bass said, "I'll be giving us something every night."

And that's what it comes down to for Bass and the rest of the Celtics -- consistency.

The Celtics will continue to play great basketball if players are able to maintain a steady flow and rhythm to their game.

For some Celtics players, that means scoring more. For others it means defending. For Bass, it's about crashing the boards and creating as tough a time as he can for opposing big men.