There’s no official metric for it and there likely never will be. But there’s an unspoken statistical category in the NBA some have dubbed “WIM,” an abbreviation of “Wants it more.”

This is WIM in a nutshell: A ball springs off the rim directly above two players. Both have an equal shot at it — athletic prowess notwithstanding — but only one player can come down with it. The player who gets it? That’s a tick in the WIM column. And it’s no surprise that there’s a strong correlation between WIMs and wins.

The Boston Celtics, as they have done throughout the Eastern Conference finals and the entire postseason, dominated the WIM category during Saturday’s Game 3 matchup with the Orlando Magic. As usual Glen Davis left it all on the floor Saturday, but he also scored a game-high 17 points. From Rajon Rondo lunging through the legs of Jason Williams while forcing one of the most spectacular steals of the season to Glen Davis willing himself to every available offensive rebound to an unrelenting defense that made every necessary rotation for a full 48 minutes, the Celtics clearly wanted it more than the Magic. The result: a 94-71 triumph at TD Garden.

The Celtics lead the series 3-0.

There’s no arguing their dominance thus far. Simply put, they’ve wanted it more than Orlando since the opening tip last Sunday.

“We want it, we know we want it,” said Davis, the unlikely source of a game-high 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Davis paced six Boston players in double figures, connecting on 5-of-9 shots, while adding six rebounds, half of which were of the offensive variety. “We remind ourselves we want it,” Davis said. “Every day we have banners [in the Celtics' practice facility], we see banners and we want another banner. That’s what it’s all about.”

After an eye-opening postseason while starting in place of Kevin Garnett last year, Davis has struggled at times during the 2009-10 campaign. Yet Orlando, as it did last postseason, brings the best out of him.

Davis scored 10 second-quarter points Saturday, grabbing two offensive rebounds in the period. The Magic never cut their deficit lower than 14 after that thanks in large part to Davis’ hustle.

His WIMs helped leave Orlando a broken team. “Everybody knows [when the Celtics want it more], you don’t need to say it,” Davis said. “We all want it. We’ve just got to go out there and physically take it.”

Emphasis on physically. In Game 2, Davis provided a spark by taking a pair of charges, once enduring a knee in the sternum in order to force a turnover and a huge momentum swing. In that same game, Garnett pump-faked a defender and went strong to the basket. Instead of stepping up and taking the charge, Rashard Lewis made a feeble swat at the ball as Garnett delivered a thunderous one-handed jam.

WIM, Boston. Davis didn’t know his role earlier this season after missing the start of the year because of a thumb injury and with the Celtics having acquired Rasheed Wallace. Davis figured it out along the way and his role is predicated on energy and desire — two of the key assets necessary to thrive in the WIM category. While Davis remains frustratingly inconsistent at times, he’s often able to offset those nights when he doesn’t fill up the box score by doing things that don’t appear in the final stat lines. “My role is just being an energy guy, making sure that I play defense, get rebounds,” Davis said. “[Coach Doc Rivers] lets me, offensively, do what I want to do — hit the open jump shot, play in the post. But at the same time he makes me still remember my role and what I am capable of doing.

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