News 4/3

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1084690&format=text

C’s handle their business
Cruise to 60th win but focus on playoffs

By Steve Bulpett | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
The Celtics [team stats] have won 60 games for the first time since the hallowed season of 1985-86.

Cool.

Their 92-77 victory last night against the Indiana Pacers also pulled them into a tie with the 1997-98 Spurs for greatest turnaround in NBA history at 36 games.

Nice.

But if Greenhearts want true encouragement, they can find it in one undeniable fact: Their team is profoundly unimpressed.

“Everything we are doing is all great and dandy - the records, the turnaround - but this team is tremendously focused,” Paul Pierce [stats] said. “We wouldn’t even know about these things unless you brought it up in here. It’s all fun. It’s good for the media guide. It’s good for the papers and the fans, but our focus is much narrower than that. We are looking straight ahead with a common goal.

“It’s all good, but we’ve got a bigger picture in mind.”

That goal is to win the last game they play this season. And considering the Celtics seemingly clinched a playoff berth around Thanksgiving, that would mean a championship.

Against the Pacers, the C’s took care of their business and did so without ever trailing. In fact, they never led by fewer than 10 points during the last 31 minutes.

But their commitment to winning even against a team barely in the postseason hunt was evident when Danny Granger pulled up and drilled a trey with 6:51 left in the last quarter. The bucket cut the lead to 15, and Kevin Garnett ripped off his warmup pants. He and Paul Pierce went back in shortly thereafter, and the Celts rolled on in to port.

Garnett finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Ray Allen scored 15, Leon Powe 14 and Pierce 13.

The Pacers shot just 35.6 percent and needed a late rush to do even that. The Celts, meanwhile, won despite shooting 44.3 percent and committing 19 turnovers.

More importantly, the Green’s magic number for clinching the best overall record in the NBA and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs dropped to one.

They now enter a stretch in which they play once in five days. After two days off from practice, the Celts will try to clinch the best record in Charlotte on Saturday and will mess with their lineup for a few games before kicking things back into gear.

“Like Paul said, we’re preparing for something way bigger than the present,” Garnett repeated. “I just don’t believe that you get to the playoffs and you wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden you turn it on. I think you prepare yourself up until a point, and we have to do that.

“We win these games and we try to keep a focus and a certain level of play, and we have to do that going into these last couple games and hopefully flow right into the playoffs with that same intensity, if not higher. The focus is very important. You can’t lose focus. You can’t play to the competition. You can’t play to the score.

“You have to keep that certain level.”

The Celts have lost their focus at times lately, as evidenced by their 52 turnovers during the past three games (18 last night). But the fact that those games are part of a five-game winning streak is evidence that the team is playing hard, if not always intelligently.

There still are seven games to get things right. Then the season begins anew, which is the main reason the Celts aren’t guzzling champagne.

“Oh, I enjoy everything,” coach Doc Rivers cracked. “You guys just don’t see it. The parties I have in my apartment are amazing.”

Pierce was a little more serious.

“That record goes out the window once the playoffs start,” Rivers said. “It’s all good and fine now, but when the playoffs start, it’s 0-0.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1084692&format=text

History by the numbers
60th win takes you back

By Mark Murphy / Celtics Beat | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
Glen Davis ran his right hand, palm side down, along the line of his freshly cut Mohawk to illustrate just where, exactly, the historical significance of 60 wins ranks - not only in Celtics [team stats] history, of which he knows little, but also in the context of his young life.

“Over my head, man,” said the big Celtics rookie. “I have no idea.”

The Celtics won their 60th game of the season last night, and to find the last time they won that many, turn back to their most recent NBA championship in 1986. That team won 67 - a total this team can match if it wins the final seven games.

“Now, of course I know who played back then,” said Davis, warming to the trivia challenge. “Larry Bird was on that team.”

“Yeah, and John Havlicek,” interjected Rajon Rondo [stats], winking when Davis wasn’t looking to let on that he was only trying to fool Big Baby, and that he actually knew that Havlicek played even further back in the Dark Ages.

Ronald Reagan was president, and there was still a Soviet Union.

Davis closed his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood for history.

“You weren’t even born, son,” Rondo told him. “1986 - that was the year when I was born.”

Ray Allen could relate better than most in the room. He was 10 when the Celtics beat Houston in the 1986 NBA Finals.

He even remembers the era.

“Reaganomics,” he said.

The current Celtics don’t lack for spokesmen and interesting thinkers. Their coach was once playfully promoted as the next mayor of Atlanta. But if there is a resident philosopher - someone always willing to think beyond convention - then Allen is the guy.

The Celtics’ party line response to winning 60 games for the first time in 22 years is that it’s just a number.

Here’s a sampling:

Paul Pierce [stats]: “We have a bigger picture in mind.”

James Posey: “Nope. Doesn’t matter. The championship does.”

Rondo: “It’s great to win 60, but we’re not aiming for that.”

Allen agrees.

But the 32-year-old guard is also fascinated by the number’s historical relevance.

Reaganomics. Glasnost. Tight NBA shorts, Billy Idol and Sharon Stone. Tree Rollins and Mikhail Gorbachev.

“I love people who say that they don’t follow sports,” said Allen. “You don’t have to follow sports to understand how they connect to the world. I mean, there’s a lot of soccer moms out there, right?

“We’re all competitors,” he said. “When you live in a city where there is a pro team, that’s a resource for your kids. There’s a very strong connection there, even for people who don’t follow sports.”

Allen just described Boston, circa 1986.

Not everyone was a Celtics fan. But that 67-win team crossed all sorts of social and economic boundaries, just as the current 60-win team is drawing new converts every day. Soccer moms know about Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

“A lot of us grew up paying attention to the NBA,” said Allen. “We can say what the state of our country was at the time a team that we loved was playing. This game transcends sports. It can mean a lot more than that for people.”

So perhaps 60 and 67 aren’t just numbers, after all.

Then again, a championship would wipe those digits clear.

Everyone would remember Baby’s Mohawk, though.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1084693&format=text

Can’t wait for playoffs

By Steve Buckley | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
It used to be you couldn’t wait for the Celtics [team stats] to get to the end of the regular season.

You may have enjoyed the game, but you were not enjoying the games. In that spirit, then, the last weeks of the regular season dissolved into a waiting period for the draft, which, you hoped, would lead to better days ahead.

What’s funny about what we are experiencing now is that those better days are finally here, but without a whole lot of help from the draft. Instead of getting Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, the Celtics got smart, with Danny Ainge pulling the proper sequence of levers and switches that resulted in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen teaming up with Paul Pierce [stats].

And guess what? As the NBA schedule cruises into April, Celtics fans are on some old, familiar turf: They can’t wait for the regular season to end.

But instead of looking ahead to the draft, Celtics fans are looking ahead to the playoffs. If you’re a Celts fan, it’s as though you’ve been crawling through the desert in search of water, and when you finally get to the oasis there’s a big ol’ fence around it with a sign saying, “Back in 15 minutes.”

You want your water now. You want your playoffs now. You’ve seen the Celtics mash too many NBA lounge acts over the last couple of weeks, no? You saw them beat up on a bunch of D-League kids who had just won the “Be a Miami Heat for a Night” contest. You saw them trek out to Chicago and emerge with an easy victory.

Last night at the Garden, it was more of the same. The Celtics defense is simply too good for non-elite NBA teams, and the Indiana Pacers, alas, are in the non-elite class.

Final score: Celtics 92, Pacers 77.

Yes, the Celtics now have 60 victories, and, as everyone knows, the last Celtics team to win 60 games was the fabled 1985-86 juggernaut that brought Boston its last NBA banner. Oh, and don’t forget this: The Celtics have now won 36 more games than last season, a turnaround that ties an NBA record.

Wonderful. But as Pierce put it so well after last night’s game, “What we’re doing is all fine and dandy. The records, the turnaround . . . but we wouldn’t even do any of these things unless you brought it up in here. It’s all fun, it’s good for the media guide, and it’s good for the papers and the fans, but our focus is much narrower than that. We’re looking straight ahead with a common goal and we’re going to focus on that.”

Said Garnett: “We have something way bigger (in mind) than the present. I just don’t believe that you get to the playoffs and you wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden turn it on. You prepare yourself up to a point, and we’ve got to do that.”

Coach Doc Rivers has had a bit of fun with all this talk about regular-season records. Asked last night about the 60 wins and the grand turnaround, he said, “It’s nice, but what are you supposed to say? It’s . . . nice.”

Rivers will give you the one-game-at-a-time speech, but it’s obvious he is already preparing for the playoffs.

“I’m going to absolutely start playing some different guys for a while,” said the coach, who is thrilled that his team has two days off, and then a game against Charlotte, followed by two more days off.

“It’s a quirk in the schedule that we will have a chance to take advantage of,” he said. “And we’re going to take advantage of it as far as different minutes, different guys resting, and then cranking it back up. Because one thing I don’t like is resting going in to the playoffs.”

Amazing. Last season, you couldn’t wait for it to end. Now the Celtics are going to rest up for the playoffs. For the next couple of weeks it’s going to look like the Red Sox [team stats] playing the Dodgers at the Coliseum.

Meaningless games. Again.

This time, though, there will be meaningful games after the meaningless games.

Those games can’t get here fast enough.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1084695&format=text

KG in Rivers’ corner
Deems Doc top coach

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
Kevin Garnett has a disagreement with Doc Rivers.

The Celtics [team stats] mentor believes Utah’s Jerry Sloan should be Coach of the Year, while Garnett made a simple speech for Rivers.

“Facts speak louder than words,” KG said after the Celts beat Indiana, 92-77, last night. “I think that’s how you should always view things, by the facts. I don’t see why not. I think you judge by wins and losses and improvements, and the way he manages the team, you understand it.

“I mean, he’s given us light at the end of the tunnel, with an understanding to play together. He has a style that we all believe in wholeheartedly. The argument’s there.”

Rest assured

Rivers is saying now that he will indeed have some of his regulars miss games once the Celts clinch homecourt advantage. Previously he had said, “I don’t believe in that a whole bunch,” but last night he said will probably shorten some starters’ minutes and keep some out of certain games entirely.

The coach explained that it wasn’t a change of heart, saying, “You don’t talk about rest publicly, because you actually have players who read the paper more than the coaches. So you just kind of let it stay out there. No one knows what we’re going to do except for our staff.”

Following the game, he added, “I’m going to absolutely start playing some different guys for a while. We have a chance here with . . . two days off, a game, and two days off. It’s a quirk in the schedule that we have a chance to take advantage of, and we’re going to take advantage of it as far as different minutes, different guys resting, and then cranking it back up.”

Rivers added the last part “because one thing I don’t like is resting going into the playoffs. So that’s why this push has been made by our guys. We talked about it a couple weeks ago: If we can get to this point, we can take advantage of these five days. And whenever you mention that to players, they get excited about that, because they see time off.

“One of the things I looked at, especially with the Big Three, is they didn’t have an All-Star break. They really didn’t. So this might be it.”

Garnett said rest is always appreciated, and Paul Pierce [stats] added, “It’s all up to the coaches and how they feel. I think I am at the point in my career where any rest I can get is good. If I was a younger player, I probably would say no. But it’s all up to the coach’s strategy, to give us the rest. It has been a long season. I think by this point in the season, we have probably earned it, but at the same time we have to stay sharp.”

Making a push

Funny moment in the second quarter when Rajon Rondo [stats] airballed a free throw and Garnett pushed him back off the line to regroup. He hit the second. . . .

Sam Cassell was a DNP last night, but he’ll get more of a look in these next few games. . . .

Evidently Benny the Bull is innocent. According to the Bulls, the team mascot did not shoot T-shirts at Garnett and James Posey during a timeout late in the win over Chicago on Tuesday. Bulls officials spoke to the Celts after reviewing video and said the shirts actually were propelled when members of the IncrediBulls, Benny’s posse, tripped. Apologies have been made. . . .

The Celtics will have to move over for the Red Sox [team stats] the next two Wednesdays, as games against the Wizards and Nets will be switched from WEEI (850) to WRKO (680). The Sox are on WRKO for all but their Wednesday games, when they move to WEEI.

Keeping track

The Celtics aren’t just paying attention to their own business. Pierce has been keeping track of the club’s potential first-round matchups.

“I always look at the standings,” he said. “Maybe some people don’t look, but I do. I’m constantly studying and seeing who we’re going to play in the first round. Right now we’re against Atlanta, but it could be Indiana or New Jersey, too. I’ve seen weird things happen. I’m definitely keeping tabs on that. It’s that time of the year.

“It’s fun. It’s fun knowing you’re going to keep playing when the regular season is over.”

And Pierce isn’t just Eastern-centric.

“I’m also checking out the Western Conference,” he said. “I’m checking out the matchups they’re going to have out there. There’s some pretty interesting matchups. I’m definitely going to be watching those games on TV.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1084696&format=text
O’Brien feels his old team’s new spirit

By Mark Murphy | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
There’s a renewed spirit in the Garden with which Jim O’Brien can identify.

The Indiana Pacers coach was on the Celtics [team stats] bench in the spring of 2002 when the C’s reached the Eastern Conference finals. His offensive schemes were being run when Paul Pierce [stats] averaged 24.5 points and was about as unstoppable a force as there was that year over the magical span of 16 playoff games.

For a TD Banknorth Garden crowd that hadn’t witnessed a Celtics playoff game in seven years, the experience was like an oasis. The only difference now, according to O’Brien, will be the playoffs.

These Celtics, with Pierce flanked by Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, are marked for something great. O’Brien’s old Celtics were a band of upstarts.

“There’s a certain difference now from what I had because back then no one knew what to expect,” the Pacers coach said before last night’s 92-77 loss to the Celtics. “People will be surprised if they’re not in the Finals this year.

“Can they win it all?” wondered O’Brien. “Yes.”

Pierce and Kendrick Perkins [stats] are the only two players left from the O’Brien era, and he understands the wait both have endured for a return to power.

“Paul is like many other players in this league who have been dying to play for a contender,” said O’Brien. “They’ve gone through lean times, and it’s good to see them getting back to where people think of them as the team to beat.”

Pierce has been virtually unstoppable in these situations before. Garnett, in response to a call from others for his own MVP candidacy, has held up Pierce as his own pick for the league honor.

O’Brien, under whose watch Pierce first flourished, is not one to argue that point.

“He’s one of the two or three toughest guards in the league to guard,” said O’Brien. “If you put the ball in his hands, there are not too many people in this league who can guard him one-on-one. But now look at what they have. With the people they have around him now, he could really have a great playoff. He had one of the greatest games anyone could have when we eliminated Philadelphia (in 2002).

“He’s one of those great players who can really rise to the occasion.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/03/pacesetters/

Pacesetters
Celtics zero in on best record, home advantage
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 3, 2008

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen have accomplished a lot during their illustrious careers. But one thing they'd never won - along with an NBA title - was 60 games in a regular season.

Until last night.

The Celtics became the first team to reach the 60-win mark this season by defeating the Indiana Pacers, 92-77, at TD Banknorth Garden. They became only the third team in franchise history to win 60 games in as few as 75 contests; the others were in 1985-86 (62-13) and 1972-73 (61-14).

"We've been past where I've been, 49 [in 2001-02]," said Pierce, who had 13 points and five assists. "Sixty, it's all good. We've got a bigger picture in mind. It's great to get as many wins as we get. But I guess the goal for us [now] is wrapping up home court throughout the playoffs.

"That record goes out the window when the playoffs start. It's all good and fine now. But when the playoffs start, it's 0-0."

The Celtics' magic number to clinch the top regular-season record in the NBA (Boston owns the tiebreaker over Detroit) is 1. Such an accomplishment would guarantee the Celtics home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Celtics also tied the 1997-98 Spurs (Tim Duncan's rookie year) for the largest one-year turnaround in NBA history. At 60-15, the Celtics have 36 more wins than last season, when they finished 24-58.

"I'm just fortunate to be in this position coming from a year ago," Pierce said. "Thankfully, we have players around that can do that. Everything we are doing is all bright and dandy. Records, turnaround . . . This team is tremendously focused."

Said Celtics center Kendrick Perkins: "It's just a big turnaround, man. This is expected for this team."

Boston has won five straight games overall and four straight at home. The Celtics also swept the three-game season series against Indiana (31-44).

A night after winning at Chicago, Boston improved to 15-2 in the second of back-to-back games and 4-0 in the second game of road-home back-to-backs. Garnett earned his 28th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds in only 31 minutes and received a standing ovation when he departed late in the fourth quarter.

"The focus is very important coming down the past couple games," Garnett said. "We're preparing for something way bigger than the present."

The Pacers shot 35.6 percent from the field, missed 23 of 29 3-pointers, and hit only 19 of 31 free throws. Indiana allowed 27 points off turnovers and didn't have a player score more than 14 points.

Before the game, Pacers forward Danny Granger called last night's encounter "monumental toward our playoff cause." It's starting to look like eighth-place Atlanta (35-40) will be Boston's first-round opponent, as it holds a four-game lead over Indiana and New Jersey.

"We have seven games left," said Pacers center Jeff Foster. "We've got to try to win all seven of them and hope Atlanta loses some."

The Celtics led, 29-17, at the end of the first quarter. Pierce and Garnett each had 8 points in the first. Boston went into halftime with a 49-30 lead after getting 14 points from Garnett and 11 from Pierce. Indiana shot 25 percent in the first half and missed 11 of 12 3-point attempts. The Pacers were 1 point shy of matching a Celtic opponents' season low for the first half, set by Sacramento Dec. 26.

"We didn't make the shots that we had to in the first half," said Pacers coach Jim O'Brien. "We dug ourselves too big of a hole to come back against these guys."

The Pacers outscored Boston, 22-19, in the third to get within 16 points by the end of the quarter (68-52). Granger nailed a 3-pointer to bring Indiana within 76-61 with 6:51 remaining. Allen, however, gave Boston an 88-67 lead with a 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining.

"It's great that we won 60, but we are not aiming for amount of wins as long we win that championship," said Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.

Of late, it seems as if the Celtics reach a new benchmark with every win. But they keep saying that the focus is on winning a title, not the accomplishments that come along the way.

"It is nice, don't get me wrong. I enjoy everything," said coach Doc Rivers. "You guys just don't see it.

"The parties I have in my apartment are amazing."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/03/remainder_has_to_do_with_rest?mode=PF
Remainder has to do with rest
Rivers must also keep players sharp
By Julian Benbow, Globe Staff | April 3, 2008

Doc Rivers is a coach. Brian Scalabrine is a coach in a player's body. So when they talk, they tend to have good conversations.

After watching the Celtics slop through Chicago and still win by 14 points Tuesday night, then play so-so basketball against Indiana last night and still win, 92-77, Scalabrine and Rivers waxed strategic like they do after every game.

Rivers noted him saying, "You know what's nice? We were sloppy in Chicago and we won. We played in spurts tonight and that's a real good thing for your team."

Hopefully.

The Celtics moved a step closer to clinching home court and wrapping up the Eastern Conference last night, picking up their fifth straight win and getting to a spot in the schedule that Rivers has been waiting on for a month after surviving the obstacle course out West.

Two days off. One game. Two days off.

It's like the All-Star break that Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce never got.

The problem is balancing the opportunity to get these guys some rest with the hope of staying razor sharp for the playoffs.

"We talked about it a couple weeks ago," Rivers said. "If we can get to it, we can take advantage of these five days. Whenever you mention that to players, they get excited about that because they see time off."

Garnett, who sheepishly buried his face in the mike, panned his eyes from side to side and said, "Nothing's wrong with rest."

They got a little last night, starting the fourth quarter on the bench, but Rivers put Garnett and Pierce back in with a 15-point lead and about 6 1/2 minutes left.

"I was a little bit surprised," Pierce said, acknowledging the Pacers did make a run, if an 8-2 stretch counts as such. "It is all up to the coaches and how they feel."

But if given a couple days to kick up his feet, Pierce will gladly take them.

"I think I am at the point in my career where any rest I can get is good," he said. "If I was a younger player, I probably would say no. But it is all up to the coach's strategy, to give us the rest. It has been a long season, we have probably earned this, but at the same time we have to stay sharp."

Which circles back to the downside of Scalabrine's observation. Yes, they have played sloppy and won, but that's not something they necessarily want to do.

Rajon Rondo airballed a free throw in the second quarter, and Garnett hung around the free throw line a little longer after the obligatory hand slaps to tell him to concentrate. Rondo knocked down the next one.

"The focus is very important coming down the past couple games," Garnett said. "I don't just believe that you can get to the playoffs and you wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden you turn it on. I think you prepare yourself up to a point and we have to do that."

The Celtics end their season against teams with a combined winning percentage that looks more like a batting average. They play only two teams currently in playoff spots, Washington and Atlanta.

"It's not like we can blink and it's over," Garnett said. "It's part of the schedule; you can't start to think about things you can't control. You have to finish these eight games and that's it."

Rivers was on the record as saying there'd be no late-season operation shutdown, but he seems to have backed off that statement.

"It's something we have a chance to take advantage of and we're going to take advantage of it as far as different guys getting minutes and different guys resting, then cranking it back up," Rivers said. "One thing I don't like is resting going into the playoffs."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/03/taking_bull_by_horns_in_chicago_t_shirt_flap/
Taking bull by horns in Chicago T-shirt flap
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | April 3, 2008

No bull. The Bulls are strongly backing their mascot, Benny, proclaiming his innocence.

Celtics Kevin Garnett and James Posey believe the mascot shot T-shirts out of a gun, hitting them during a timeout in Boston's 106-92 victory Tuesday at the United Center. Bulls officials, however, said yesterday Benny didn't do it and they have video to prove it. According to the Bulls, a member of their spirit group, the IncrediBulls, accidentally shot T-shirts toward Garnett and Posey after tripping and falling to the floor.

Although Benny doesn't do interviews, the Bulls spoke on his behalf.

Lucky, the Celtics' mascot, declined comment in between taking half-court shots before last night's 92-77 win over the Pacers.

Posey and Garnett, however, laughed at the Bulls' excuse.

"They all work together," said Posey, who added that he needs security every time he goes to Chicago. "I told you, 'Inside job.' They got pretty good aim there."

Said Garnett: "Wow. That's a story. I just turned around and Dude [Benny] had the smoking gun in his hands. I didn't see no lady. I didn't see nobody trip over a gun. You know what I'm saying?"

The incident occurred while Garnett and Posey were walking to the bench with 2:49 remaining in the game. After being hit by the T-shirts, Garnett, Posey, and the Celtics thought Benny did it, since he was the only one standing in the general vicinity. According to the Bulls, Benny did not have anything in his hands.

The Bulls then said a referee approached Benny to see what had happened, but Benny doesn't speak. A game operations assistant approached the referee to explain. While a referee told the Celtics what the operations assistant had said, the Celtics thought it was a bunch of bull.

"When the IncrediBulls member tripped, the shirts were accidentally launched in the direction of the Celtics, but they did hit the floor first, according to what we saw," said Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam. "When it took place, we did take steps to apologize to the Celtics' bench and the referees during the timeout and let them know what happened during that same timeout."


Words of Bird
Larry Bird, the Pacers' president of basketball operations, applauded the Knicks' hiring of Donnie Walsh to be their president of basketball operations. Walsh spent 23 seasons with the Pacers, most recently as CEO and president.

"The Indiana Pacers offer Donnie Walsh congratulations and wish him good luck in his new position," said Bird in a statement. "The Knicks have a good man whose dedication to his job is unmatched. I have learned a great deal from Donnie and he's not only a role model but a great friend.

"Given time, there's no doubt in my mind Donnie will bring success to the Knicks, much like he did with the Pacers. On behalf of the entire Pacers organization, we wish him the best of luck."

Walsh also expressed confidence in Bird leading the Pacers during his press conference in New York yesterday. "I was in Indiana too long. I thought I was holding down guys like Larry Bird," Walsh said.

While Bird now has the final say on the Pacers' personnel decisions, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge felt that had more or less been the case.

"He's the one I always talked to [with Indiana]," Ainge said. "I've always had the impression that he made the call. I don't know how it changes the responsibility."


Sound advice
Celtics coach Doc Rivers, a former Marquette star who is now on the school's board of trustees, said he advised basketball coach Tom Crean "to go with his heart" before he decided to leave Marquette to coach at Indiana. "Obviously, I don't love it," Rivers said. "But Tom's been fantastic. He is a very close friend. I talked to him [recently]. It's a tough loss for us and a great gain for Indiana." . . . Injured Golden State guard Troy Hudson, a friend and former teammate of Garnett's, sat courtside in Garnett's seats . . . Ainge was at the game after returning from a scouting trip and will not be at the Final Four in San Antonio. His next scouting trip will likely be for the Portsmouth Invitational in Virginia April 9-12 . . . The April 9 game against Washington and April 16 game against New Jersey have been moved from WEEI to WRKO 680.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x2138108519
Megliola: Celts counting the days 'til the playoffs
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By Lenny Megliola/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Apr 02, 2008 @ 10:56 PM
Last update Apr 02, 2008 @ 11:19 PM

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BOSTON — Seven more games left.

Give the Celtics credit for not surrendering to boredom. They keep giving fans their money's worth. But they're counting the days until the games are truly meaningful again. Can't blame them. They've done more than their part to make it a memorable season.

Still, where the Celtics sit this morning, the last seven games must seem irrelevant to them and the fans. But do we have to be reminded that the last 60 games last season were irrelevant?

The Celtics have given us everything so far. Last night, they knocked out the Pacers, 92-77. Soon the hard part kicks in. Starting up all over again in the playoffs, and carrying the burden of high expectations with them into the spring.

One thing is for certain. Doc Rivers needs the playoffs to start in the worst way. He's good about it, but I get the sense he's wicked tired of answering questions about how he's going to mete out minutes over the last seven games. Can his players keep their intensity, their focus? He was asked that again last night before the game. Intensity and focus are two words Doc's heard a lot lately.

"Do you know the difference?" he shot back, turning reporter himself.

Last night's win was Boston's 60th, up 36 from last season, tying San Antonio (10 years ago) for the best one-season jump. Sing a song of thanks if you want, to Rivers 60 means nada.

"Not a thing," he said. "It doesn't get anything for us."

Well, it'll get homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, but Doc has a point. They're playing for a ring, and no team in the playoffs is going to go all weak-kneed against the Celtics just because they won 60-plus games. It just increases the bullseyes on their backs.

Nope, said Doc, reaching 60 wins "doesn't mean a lot to us. Maybe (pause) ... when we're older."

To nail down last night's milestone, Rivers played it to the hilt. When Indiana got its deficit "down" to 76-61 in the fourth quarter, he put Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce back in the lineup. Garnett must have thought he was settled in for the evening, and looked a little perturbed as he ripped off his sweats. Duty called though. Paul Pierce got off the bench too. "I was a little surprised," said Pierce.

"I told them if (Indiana) got it to 15, I'd put them back in," said Rivers.

Things were righted in a hurry. When Garnett came out with 3 1/2 minutes left, he knew his night's work was done. Pierce too, when he left a few seconds later. "I'm glad we took care of business," said Pierce.

The 60 wins don't impress the captain any more than it does the coach. "We've got the bigger picture in mind," said Pierce. "That record goes out the window when the playoffs start."

Kendrick Perkins did feel "it's just a big turnaround, man." Garnett was only thinking about getting the last seven games in the books.

Boston and Indiana were coming from opposite ends of basketball life. The Celtics, let's face it, had the Atlantic Division sewed up by opening night, and they've known for a while that the Pistons weren't going to catch them for the overall best mark in the Eastern Conference. It's been that sweet of a season for Boston.

And it's been kind of a brutal season for the Pacers. Missing their main man, Jermaine O'Neal, for 33 games, and starting the night 12 games under .500, Indiana is desperate for a playoff spot. It's looking like a hopeless cause.

The Celtics built a nice 12-point cushion after the first quarter, and even though Rivers was mixing his lineup, and even though seven of his team's eight first half turnovers came in this quarter, it did the Pacers no good. They trailed by 19 at the half, and lost another heartbeat relating to postseason hopes.

As for the Celtics, the dreary stretch rolls on. Charlotte, Milwaukee, Washington on the road, then just four more after that, finishing the regular season at home against New Jersey on April 16. It should be fan appreciation night.

Then the playoffs, and Rivers won't have to be asked about his team's intensity and focus anymore. Expectations are high. "I'm just fortunate to be in this position," said Pierce.

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/news/blog/post-ups.html

Live from Courtside
Live Scoreboard


92-75 Celtics, FINAL: KG's the Celtics.com Player of the Game. 60 wins is hard to believe and more than we had in the last two seasons combined.

83-66 Celtics, 3:38/4th: The Pacers got as close as 13 just a few minutes ago, but that was probably their last gasp. Meanwhile, Big Baby, sporting the Mr. T haircut, just checked in and probably thought he got a rousing ovation for the mohawk. Too bad it was for KG, who left with 20 and 11.

74-53 Celtics, 8:45/4th: Leon Powe is on his way to a double-double with 12 and nine rebounds in a very efficient 21 minutes of play. He'd be in the running for Celtics.com Player of the Game, but I think he's won the award (which, by the way, is a fictional trophy that would make a handsome addition to anyone's mantle) about four times in the last month. Just scroll down the page and look for his face.

We could always rename it the Celtics.com Leon Powe Award...

68-52 Celtics, End of 3rd: Pierce, Garnett and Allen are all approaching the 30 minutes mark. We're wondering how long they'll play tonight. 16 points to start the fourth isn't exactly a garbage time lead unless Ray and the bench can run it up early.

67-47 Celtics, 1:42/3rd: KG's got a relatively quiet 20/10 night working (despite taking 18 shots), and the C's are comfortably ahead by 20. By the way, Garnett's only taken more than 18 shots in a game this season about six times by my count.

49-30 Celtics, Halftime: Indiana's shooting woes continue, and they've got just four assists on their nine field goals. The Celtics have 14 assists on 19 field goals. Meanwhile, Rondo's been hitting the offensive glass. I've got him for three of his four coming on the offensive end. Apparently he doesn't think the Pacers are much of a threat to fast break.

41-26 Celtics, 2:32/2nd: Would the Indiana Pacer who's guarding Leon Powe please stand up? Powe's been open pretty under the bucket much all night. Meanwhile, at 7/32, the Pacers really are giving the Heat's 17-spot a run for its money.

39-24 Celtics, 6:38/2nd: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen just gave James Posey a double-barrel "thumbs down" from the bench for his breakaway no-frills two-handed dunk before the last timeout.

32-22 Celtics, 8:56/2nd: P.J. Brown has five rebounds in six minutes. He's what you'd call a "professional rebounder."

29-17 Celtics, End of 1st: Stat of the Quarter: The Celtics have had most of their success on the left side of the court; only KG has scored from the field on the right side...

22-13 Celtics, 2:50/1st: KG has 8 and 4, while Jermaine O'Neal, who's just returning from injury this week, checked in a minute ago and quickly knocked down a baseline jumper. But the Pacers' shooting woes continue; they're just 4/17 from the field.

16-11 Celtics, 5:50/1st: The Celtics' "54" play, where four guys stack up on a baseline inbound pass, and KG releases from the pack for an open baseline jumper, looks like something from your junior high school playbook. Only this play actually works. KG missed the jumper, but he had a wide-open look.

9-7 Celtics, 7:44/1st: The Pacers came out shooting bricks, connecting on two of their first 10 attempts. Yikes. Are they trying to throw a 17 (field goals) like the Heat did over the weekend?

Pregame Media Access
With the Detroit Pistons waving the white flag by sitting a few starters Tuesday night against the Timberwolves, the Celtics have all but locked up home court advantage throughout the playoffs. What isn't quite clear is who they'll meet in the first round. While the Atlanta Hawks (34-40) are the favorite to take the eighth seed, the Indiana Pacers (31-43) are three games behind the Hawks and still in the mix.

If they could pull it off, a win tonight at the Garden over the Celtics would certainly help Atlanta's case.

"You gotta look at Indiana and Atlanta right now," Rivers said of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. "The good news is that Indiana and Atlanta play each other, so our scouts can watch that game."

As for whether he'd hold anything back tonight against Indiana with scouting in mind, Rivers isn't worried.

"If they don't know who we are by now, they're not gonna know. We're not going to change who we are. We're just gonna play," Rivers said. "Once we get it down to where we think home court is done, then we can do some different things."

As for what those things would be, Rivers told reporters, "I'll let you know when we clinch," and then indicated that he'd prefer not to discuss things like resting players in the media because some players actually read this stuff.

"We've got a quirky schedule coming up, and we would love to be able to take advantage of it that way, I'll put it that way."

One thing that's not on Rivers' radar is the team's win total.

"You don't get anything for it and it really means nothing to us," Rivers said. "50, 60, none of that matters to us. It's nice, but it's not what we're playing for."

Obie Reflects on '02 Run
If anyone knows how starved the Celtics' fan base is for a contender, it's Pacers Coach Jim O'Brien, who led the Celtics on their most improbable playoff run, as the 2002 Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and staged what still stands as the greatest single-game comeback in NBA history.

"For the whole organization that's gone through lean times, it's nice to see this franchise back where everybody's talking about them as the team to beat in the East," O'Brien said. "I think people would be surprised if they are not in the Finals this year."

O'Brien called the Boston playoff atmosphere "electric", noting that the Garden provides a great home court advantage. To that end, he also knows what happens to Paul Pierce in the postseason.

"He's one of the two or three toughest [players to] guard in the league. There are not too many people who can guard him one-on-one," O'Brien said. "With the group of people he has surrounding him right now, he could have a huge playoffs."

Early Pregame Report
It's an early start at the Garden tonight at the Celtics look to win their 60th game of the season. We'll be back just before 7 p.m. with the full pregame report and audio.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/sports/pros/x1751185147
Celts are so good they’re scary
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By Mike Fine
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 03, 2008 @ 04:32 AM

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BOSTON — BOSTON

The Boston Celtics are like kerosene on a fire these days. They pour it on and light up the scoreboard. It’s almost getting ridiculous.

The Celtics have won 60 games, something the franchise hasn’t done since the last championship season, 1985-86, when they won 67. Wednesday’s 99-77 dismantling of the Indiana Pacers put them 36 wins ahead of last season’s win total of 24, a one-year improvement that ties the NBA record of the 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs, who managed to secure Tim Duncan in the NBA draft, going from 20 wins to 56. Over the last five games, all of them wins, the Celtics have outscored their opponents by a 103-84 average.

It’s almost frightening, even for Paul Pierce.

“We’re well past where I’ve been – 49 wins,” he said, thinking back to the 2001-02 club. “Sixty is all good, but we have a bigger picture in mind. It’s to get as many wins as we get, but our bigger goal is wrapping up the home court throughout the playoffs.”

Oh, and that’s another thing. The Celtics are only one win, or one Detroit loss, away from doing that.

“It’s all good,” Pierce said, “but when the playoffs start, it’s 0-0.”

Yes, that’s true, but this team has been ahead of the pack – that means the entire NBA – from the first week of the season until now, with only seven games remaining in the regular season. They have been a virtually unstoppable force, a role model for every team that wants to know how to win, beyond the fact that director of operations Danny Ainge pulled off the monster trade that brought them Kevin Garnett. The Celtics have managed to gel from the first week in August through today.

“The Celtics play harder than anybody in the league defensively,” said Pacers coach Jim O’Brien, who resigned from his Celtics coaching position in January 2004, shortly after Ainge traded away some of his defensive players. “Their quickness is outstanding. That’s as hard-nosed a defensive unit as there is in the league. It’s a credit to their coaching staff.”

Make no mistake about it, O’Brien loves this team, and he can appreciate the Celts more after being swept, 3-0, by them this season.

“I think their whole organization and front office has gone through lean times,” he said. “It’s nice to see the franchise back where everybody’s talking about them as the team to beat in the East. Certainly they are. I don’t think anybody would argue with that. I think people would be surprised if they were not in the Finals this year.”

O’Brien was at the helm in 2002 when the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals, and this season, he says, is very reminiscent. “It was certainly different from what I’d come to expect the previous four years,” he said of ‘02. “It’s electric, a great homecourt advantage, a passion that you could cut with a knife. It’s just a terrific, terrific environment of basketball.”

This year, though, he’s not surprised to see how it all came together. Of Pierce, he said, “He’s one of the two or three toughest people to guard in the league. There are not too many people that can guard him 1-on-1. The people he has surrounding him right now, he could have a huge playoffs just because he seems to take it to a completely other level.

“Garnett is very nice to say that Paul should be the MVP, but I don’t think I can remember a player coming into a franchise like Garnett has and single-handedly change the culture of the organization, and I think he’s done that. I think if you’re talking most valuable, I can’t imagine anybody any more valuable to their team than Garnett is.”

The Celtics, meanwhile, remain oblivious to all of this. The 60 wins, the 36-game turnaround. It means nothing.

“The focus is very important,” said Garnett, who scored 20 points with 11 boards Wednesday. “You can’t lose focus, you can’t play to the competition, you can’t play to the score, you have to play to a certain level.

“You have to play, man. You can’t think about what the teams’ records are. We’ve been beat by teams that don’t have good records. It doesn’t matter. When you step on the floor, it’s all guys competing. We have been trying to keep it consistent by taking it one game at a time, and we are going to keep that, and take it just like that, but at the same time play our own style of basketball, and hopefully flow into the playoffs with that same level.”

Is there any doubt that after all this time, all this success, they will?

[FLCeltsFan]

forum.connpost.com/celticscentral/2008/04/60_36_and_2_bostons_numbers_ga.html#comments
60, 36 and 2; Boston's Numbers Game
Boston just lapped the Indiana Pacers 92-77, and were amazingly professional in doing so.


All year long Doc Rivers has been saying it's not about the individual numbers. So have the players on the team.


That unselfishness led to some very fine numbers tonight.


Boston just notched its 60th win of the year. That hasn't happened since 1986 when the team went 67-15 on their way to their last Championship.


More incredible, they just tied San Antonio for the greatest one year turnaround in NBA history with a 36 game swing. They are certain to break that record against the weak remaining schedule.


And only 2 more wins are required to guarantee home court throughout the play-offs. That could come in very handy, especially if they make it to the Finals. Boston, now with the 2nd best home record in the league at 33-6, is especially hard to stop with home cooking.


Boston jumped out to an early lead once again and never looked back. They hit their first 4 shots to go up 9-2 and finished the quarter 29-17. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce led the way with 8 points each. Leon Powe added 5 points and P.J. Brown supplied 4 more and 4 rebounds in just 3 minutes of play in the opening stanza.


It got worse as the Celtics led the previously warm Pacers by 49 -30 at the half. The Pacers could manage just 9 make baskets by the half. The Pacers came in having won 6 of 8 in a move to reach the play-offs. They were 3 games behind Atlanta for the 8th and final spot in the east.


Boston just shut down everything they wanted to do. They also missed some open looks and the return of Jermaine O'Neal, scoring 12 points in 20 minutes in just his second game back, wasn't able to make this a competitive game.


Garnett led Boston with 20 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes. Ray Allen was next with 15 points. Leon Powe played a strong game and finished with 14 points, and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. Rajon Rondo led the team with 6 assists and 3 steals.


The Boston Celtics clearly are focused and are making these wins against the lower teams look easy and almost effortless. The Pacers never challenged the rest of the way, though both teams were careless with the ball as Boston turned it over 18 times to Indy's 20. Mike Dunleavy was responsible for 8 TOs by himself.


Dunleavy is having a career year, but it seems to me to be illusory. I don't think he gets the kind of numbers he is getting with O'Brien anywhere else. He has career highs in points, rebounds, fg%, 3 point fg%, and ft %. Enjoy it Mike, while you can.


On the other hand, Leon Powe seems to be getting more comfortable out there every game. He is doing what he does best, and that is rebounding and scoring around the hoop. He has added a little mid range jumper from time to time, as well. He has averaged 12.2 points and 7 rebounds in just 21.5 minutes over the last 4 games, as Doc is relying on him a little bit more since the Houston game when he scored 21 on 8 of 12 shooting, while playing decent defense.


The quiet story of the game is the low amount of minutes Doc is giving his two new acquisitions, Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown. Tonight, in a blow out, Cassell did not play and Brown played 5 minutes. This would seem to be the time to be doling out PT to get them involved with the teams' plays and getting them in sync with the rest of the team.


Whether Doc feels it could be costly to the existing team chemistry and certain players' rhythm, remains to be seen. Cassell in particular would seem to need the time to learn to run the Boston offense. When he has given both new players solid minutes, it hasn't always worked smoothly. With 7 games left, one would think they would be getting more PT, if they are to be instrumental in the play-offs. That suggests that Coach Rivers is pretty happy with the team as is, and loathe to make wholesale changes - veteran players or not. But we will see.


When the year started this team's current success would have equated with my wildest dreams. It is now a reality, and what a ride it has been so far. Basketball is being played at such a high level and in such an entertaining fashion on any given evening, so as to make the previous 2 years seem worth it and.... long ago. The quest continues.


Boston's next game is Saturday at Charlotte.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080403/NEWS/804030524/1009/SPORTS
Celtics close in on top seed

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]




Boston’s Paul Pierce (34) is fouled by Indiana’s Danny Granger while attempting a first-half shot. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Enlarge photo


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BOSTON— With their 92-77 victory over the Indiana Pacers at the Garden last night, the Celtics reduced their magic number for securing the top seed in the NBA playoffs to one with seven games to go.

The Celtics can clinch as soon as tomorrow if Detroit loses at home to New Jersey. The Celtics next play Saturday at Charlotte.

That’s all the Celtics care about, not the fact that they’ve won 60 games for the 12th time in their 62-year history and the first time in 22 years.


“It’s nice,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “but when we started the season, it was not on our list of things we wanted to do.”

They don’t give much thought either to winning 36 more games than a year ago to tie the 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs for the biggest one-year improvement in league history.

“We wouldn’t even know about any of these things unless you brought it up in here,” Celtics captain Paul Pierce said, referring to the media. “It’s all fun. It’s good for the media guide, it’s good for the papers and the fans, but the focus is much narrower than that.”

The No. 1 seed would give them homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs and last night was just the latest reminder of how formidable the Celtics are at the Garden. They’re 33-6 here, the best home record in the Eastern Conference. Only Utah out West owns a better home mark.

The Celtics have won their last four at home and last night’s ended up being the closest of the four. They’ve also have captured 15 of their last 17 here. Entering last night, they had outscored their opponents by an average of 12.3 points at home, shot 48.3 percent and held the opposition to 41.4 percent.

If the Celtics win their final two home games, April 11 against Milwaukee and April 16 vs. New Jersey, they’ll finish 35-6 at the Garden, tying for the franchise’s fourth-best home record, last accomplished in the 1990-91 season. They finished a franchise-best 40-1 at home in 1985-86.

At 60-15 overall, the Celtics own the franchise’s third-best record through 75 games.

Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds as Boston won its fifth game in a row overall. Leon Powe continued his strong play of late by collecting 14 points and 9 boards. Ray Allen scored 15 and Pierce had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Danny Granger led Indiana with 14 points despite making only 4 of 15 shots. Mike Dunleavy and Jermaine O’Neal each had 12 points and Troy Murphy contributed 11.

The Celtics led by 26 early in the second half. With his team in command, Rivers hoped to rest his starters for the fourth quarter, but he put Garnett and Pierce back in with six minutes left after Indiana pulled within 15, 76-61. Garnett ripped off his sweats, threw them to the floor and muttered to himself as he left the bench. The Pacers got as close as 13, 79-66, when Shawne Williams hit a 3-pointer with 5:17 to go, but Garnett and Pierce returned to the bench within a couple of minutes after the Celtics pulled away again.

“I just don’t believe you get to the playoffs,” Garnett said, “and you wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden turn it on. You prepare yourself up to a point and we’ve got to do that. We try to keep a focus and a certain level of play. We have to do that these last couple of games, then hopefully flow right into the playoffs with that same intensity, if not higher.”

Indiana had won six of its last eight games, but proved no match for the Celtics. Boston swept all three games from the Pacers this season. Former Celtics great Larry Bird, now president of basketball operations for Indiana, made the right move in not coming to Boston to watch last night’s game. He wouldn’t have liked what he saw.

Indiana fell to 31-44, four games behind Atlanta in the race for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff berth. Atlanta rallied to beat Toronto in overtime last night.

Playing back-to-back nights is supposed to tire out NBA teams, but the Celtics don’t seem to mind. They won at Chicago Tuesday night, then last night improved to 15-2 on the back end of playing back-to-back nights.

This wasn’t exactly an AT&T type of game. Neither team could dial in the basket from long distance. The Celtics made just 6 of 24 3-point tries, the Pacers only 6 of 29. But the Celtics played their usual tough defense, limiting the Pacers to 35.6 percent shooting. They held Indiana to 9 of 36 shooting (25 percent) while taking a 49-30 halftime lead and extending to eight the number of consecutive quarters they limited the opposition under 20 points at home. That defensive effort came on the heels of limiting Miami to a 17 field goals, the fewest during the NBA’s shot clock era, Sunday in their previous home game.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080403/NEWS/804030682/1009/SPORTS
Cassell, Brown wait their turn

CELTICS NOTES

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]






BOSTON— During the All-Star break, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen practically begged P.J. Brown to come out of retirement to help the Celtics.

When Sam Cassell entered a game at the Garden for the first time as a Celtic three weeks ago, the fans gave him a standing ovation.

So far, neither has done much to warrant that kind of excitement.


Blame it on a lack of opportunity, practice time or in Brown’s case conditioning and timing from not having played all season, but they haven’t helped much yet.

“Yet” is the key word.

Cassell did sink an important 3-pointer in a victory at San Antonio, but he is shooting just 33.8 percent, including only 27.3 percent from three-land, and has averaged only 5.1 points and 1.8 assists in 15.5 minutes. He didn’t leave the bench last night. With the Clippers earlier this season, Cassell averaged 12.8 points and 4.7 assists in 25.7 minutes while shooting 45.5 percent.

“Sam needs just to get the better rhythm of the offense,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Rivers said he planned to play Cassell a lot more starting with the team’s next game at Charlotte on Saturday, so he went with Eddie House in reserve of Rajon Rondo last night.

Brown hadn’t played in three of Boston’s last five games prior to collecting 4 points and 5 rebounds in 6 minutes last night. In 12 games, he’s averaged 2.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 10.6 minutes. He’s shooting just 33.3 percent as he fights to shake the rust from not having played since last April, but Rivers thinks he’s adapted to the Celtics system faster than Cassell.

“P.J. has it,” Rivers said. “He’s knows our stuff. He’s been a phenomenal rebounder. He’s doing great.”

Neither Cassell nor Brown is bothered by not having played much yet.

“I’ve come a long way in four weeks,” Brown said. “It was a lot harder and a lot tougher four weeks ago, but there are still some things I need to iron out to get on the same page defensively with everyone else.”

The bottom line is that the Celtics don’t need either of the 38-year-old warriors now. They were signed to provide experience and depth in the playoffs and they can still do that. Until the Celtics clinch the No. 1 playoff seed, Rivers can’t be blamed for wishing to continue the development of Rondo, Leon Powe and Glen Davis. But Rivers plans to play Cassell and Brown a lot more the rest of the season.

If Cassell hits a few big shots and Brown grabs a few key rebounds in the playoffs, the pleas of Pierce and Allen as well as the Garden’s standing ovation will be rewarded.

Rivers may rest starters
Contrary to what he said earlier in the week, Rivers admitted he plans to rest his starters for entire games once the No. 1 seed is locked up.

The Celtics won’t practice today or tomorrow before visiting Charlotte Saturday night, then they’ll have the next two days off as well. So Pierce, Allen and Kevin Garnett may sit out against Charlotte to give them five consecutive days off.

“One of the things I looked at,” Rivers said, “especially with the Big Three, is they didn’t have an All-Star break, they really didn’t. So this might be it.”

O’Brien praises Pierce
Pacers coach Jim O’Brien can’t help but be happy for Paul Pierce, whom he used to coach in Boston.

“Paul among many others that have been dying for a contender,” said O’Brien, who coached the Celtics from 1997 through 2004, first as Rick Pitino’s assistant, then as his replacement as head coach. “I think the whole organization, their whole front office, had gone through lean times.

It’s certainly nice to see this franchise back to where everybody’s talking about them as the team to beat in the East. Certainly they are. I don’t think anybody would argue with that. I think people would be surprised if they were not in the Finals this year.”

O’Brien expects Pierce to be tough to stop in the playoffs.

“He’s one of the two or three toughest people to guard in the league,” O’Brien said. “Certainly, putting the ball in his hands, there are not too many people that can guard him one-on-one. With the group of people he has surrounding him right now, he could have a huge playoff just because he seems to take it to a completely other level.”

O’Brien believes Kevin Garnett should be the league’s MVP.

“I don’t think I can remember,” he said, “a player coming into a franchise like Garnett has and completely and single-handedly change the culture of an organization and I think he’s done that. There might be people on the court that are better statistically than Kevin Garnett, but I think if you’re talking about most valuable, I can’t imagine anybody being more valuable to their team than Garnett is.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/sports/x2027460093
celtics notebook: O’Brien happy for the Celtics
The current Pacers coach says he’d choose Kevin Garnett for league MVP.
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By Jim Fenton
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Apr 03, 2008 @ 05:11 AM

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BOSTON — He is the only head coach to take the Boston Celtics deep in the playoffs since the retirement of Larry Bird in 1992.

Jim O’Brien was on the bench for the run to the 2002 Eastern Conference finals when the Celtics lost to the New Jersey Nets in six games.

That is the only time since Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish exited the scene when the Celtics created genuine postseason excitement with loud, enthusiastic crowds rocking the building on Causeway Street.

“It was certainly different from what I had come to expect the previous four years,” said O’Brien, who coached the Celtics from January 2001-January 2004 after being an assistant. “It was electric, a great, great home-court advantage, passion that you could cut with a knife. It was a terrific, terrific environment for basketball.”

That environment is expected to be even better starting later this month when the Celtics, on target to be the No. 1 seed, begin their bid for the franchise’s first championship since 1986.

O’Brien, who replaced Rick Pitino in the middle of the 2000-01 season, was 139-119 with the Celtics before resigning when he had philosophical differences with Danny Ainge.

He returned to the TD Banknorth Garden Wednesday night as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, who dropped a 92-77 decision to the Celtics.

O’Brien, whose team is running out of time in its bid to make the playoffs, is happy the Celtics are in the position to compete for a title again.

“(They) have been dying for a contender,” said O’Brien. “I think the whole organization, their whole front office, had gone through lean times. It’s certainly nice to see this franchise back to where everybody’s talking about them as the team to beat in the East.

“Certainly they are. I don’t think anybody would argue with that. I think people would be surprised if they were not in the (NBA) Finals this year.”

O’Brien had high praise for Paul Pierce, who along with Antoine Walker, led the Celtics to the conference finals six years ago.

“He’s one of the two or three toughest people to guard in the league,” said O’Brien. “Certainly, putting the ball in his hands, there are not too many people that can guard him one-on-one.

“With the group of people he has surrounding him right now, he could have a huge playoff just because he seems to take it to a completely other level. He’s the guy who absolutely wants the ball in his hands in the clutch and that’s what great players are made of.”

O’Brien said he would cast his vote for Kevin Garnett as the league’s most valuable player for the way he has transformed the Celtics.

“Garnett is very nice to say that Paul should be the MVP,” said O’Brien, “but I don’t think I can remember a player coming into a franchise like Garnett has and completely and single-handedly changed the culture of an organization and I think he’s done that.

“There might be people on the court that are better statistically than Kevin Garnett, but I think if you’re talking about most valuable, I can’t imagine anybody being more valuable to their team than Garnett is.”

Radio change:
Because of conflicts with the Red Sox, the Celtics’ games against the Washington Wizards on April 9 and New Jersey on April 16 will be on WRKO-680 AM instead of WEEI radio … Next Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and the regular-season finale against the Nets April 16 will be shown in high definition at the Showcase Cinema in Randolph ($7 for adults, $5 for children 11 and under) … Rajon Rondo airballed a foul shot in the final minute of the first half, prompting Garnett to push him away from the line to get a fresh approach. Rondo then swished the second one … The Celtics play their next three games on the road, beginning Saturday in Charlotte.