Five teams are interested in Kenyon Martin, though the Celtics are not listed.

Sources -- Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers among teams pursuing Kenyon Martin - ESPN

The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks are pursuing free-agent forward Kenyon Martin, according to league sources. Martin has spoken with executives from each of the clubs and is hoping to make his decision next week. The veteran of 11 NBA seasons will be eligible to sign and begin playing with a team as soon as the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers complete their season in the Chinese Basketball Association.

The FIBA season ends February 16th.

Martin's priority is to join a contender on which he'll have a sizeable role, according to a person close to Martin.

This is a new twist on the annual "buy-out watch" isn't it? I don't really know what Kenyon has left to offer a contender but with all the power forwards on our roster, I don't think the Celtics are a great fit anyway.

It can be easy to get caught up in the negativity of losing streaks. Likewise it can be all too easy to get carried away with a winning streak.

Boston Celtics Winning Streak A Good Start, But February Will Be Key - SB Nation Boston

The easy thing to do after a game like this is to proclaim that the Celtics have turned the corner and are well on their way back to being among the elite teams in the NBA again. A quick look at their upcoming schedule will give fans hope that this may actually be the case, as they have winnable games coming up against the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice) and Toronto Raptors before the schedule will begin to stiffen again (the Lakers, Bulls (x2), Mavericks, Thunder, and Grizzlies all are on tap in February). However, I would caution against getting too carried away with the teams current winning streak.

... the lesson here is not to get worked up over a sample size of four games. Players can get hot and teams can get hot, but as Celtics fans should be fully aware by now, it's the ability to play consistently well against the elite teams of the league that separates the haves from the have nots.

Are the Celtics "back" now? Too early to tell. I like the direction they are going though. For now, that's enough.

The Celtics did two things last night that they haven't done much of this season: Score points, and score points from the paint.

Result? A win over a good team - their third one this week.

And if you've been watching much Celtics basketball this season - especially the two previous games against the Pacers - you know how hard it's been for the Celtics to establish any sort of low-post presence.

On the year, the C's average just 8.8 shots per game from 3-9 feet away from the basket. Their conversion of just 2.6 of those gives them a field goal percentage of 30-percent, second to last in the NBA behind the Knicks.

So yeah, it's bad.

And to top it all off, the Pacers are statistically one of the best in the NBA from the same area - ranking first in makes and attempts (7.0-16.2).

A quick look back at the two previous games before Friday night's win proves just how weak the C's were offensively in the paint.

January 6: Celtics points in the paint- 28 | Pacers points in the paint - 42
January 14: Celtics points in the paint - 24 | Pacers points in the paint - 42

Not a good look, and certainly not the trend they want to set. So Doc Rivers and his team of coaches made sure to do address it the third time.

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Rajon Rondo has missed the last 5 games with the hurt wrist that he injured on January 18th. That night Danny Ainge said "he's fine" and told us that the MRI was negative. That's all well and good, but when is he going to play again?

Rondo himself (who sometimes has a way of being coy with things like this) isn't exactly being clear on when he expects to be back. Here's his quote via CSNNE:

The point guard was vague about his expected return, offering, "I am going to play -- one day. Maybe like next -- hopefully before All-Star Break. That's my goal, to come back before All-Star. I'm going to try to get February, like my birthday, like before Oklahoma."

I think the general point he's trying to get across is "I'm not sure, but it could be another few weeks." But since I've got nothing better to do and this is what I do, let's (over)analyze this.

• "One day" - well, I hope so
• "Maybe like next" - wanted to say next week?
• "hopefully before the All-Star Break" - woah, wait, you mean the All Star break that starts February 23rd?
• "I'm going to try to get February..." - well, February 1st is just a few days away...
• "...like my birthday" - Rondo was born on Feb. 22, 1986
• "...like before Oklahoma." - that's scheduled for Feb. 22 (hey, at least Perkins will get to celebrate with him on his birthday)

Herald Celtics hold off Pacers for 4th straight win
Allen looks to tomorrow
Celts don’t get message, win anyway
Pierce’s 17 in 3rd leads Celtics past Indy 94-87
Hornets GM Dell Demps says team looking to trade center Chris Kaman
NBA shot blocking is part art, part science, and all about denial
Reeling Magic stung hard by Hornets
Telecommunications exec buys share of Celtics
Knicks, like the Jets, are a major New York disappointment
Globe Final: Boston Celtics 94, Indiana Pacers 87
Wilcox leads breathtaking effort by Celtics’ bench
Pierce, Celtics keep up pace
Telecommunications exec buys share of Celtics

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In case you missed it, Paul Pierce is playing pretty well lately. (Understatement Alert)

The Truth: Paul Pierce is back

Over the last four games, Pierce has scored 105 points, dished out 35 assists and grabbed 29 rebounds. Not coincidentally, the Celtics have won all four. Most of those wins have come without Ray Allen and all of them have happened without Rondo. The Celtics’ resurgence isn’t all about Pierce – Kevin Garnett has been playing inspired defense and the bench pieces are starting to come together into something that resembles a coherent group – but Pierce is the connective tissue.

"I'm getting there," he said. "I'm really getting used to the soreness of playing. I'm getting used to the back-to-backs. A few weeks ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to play in this game -- in the fourth game in five nights -- because of how my body was feeling after these games, but I'm really getting used to the conditioning for these games where it's not really affecting me. And Doc is doing a great job of giving us rest in these types of situations."

Pierce said he's at "83.7 percent." If he can get back to 100% anymore at his age, the league better watch out.

Rondo: Pierce is 'Mr. Everything'

"It’s not easy to make that transition from still scoring and running the point and rebounding," Rondo told CSNNE.com following the Celtics 94-87 win over the Indiana Pacers. "He’s Mr. Everything right now for us, and that’s what we need."

Yup. I have nothing to add to that.

The Celtics got a needed boost at center with Chris Wilcox last night, but they are still kind of thin at the position. So it would only make sense to look at Chris Kaman, who has been officially been put on the trading block by the NBA err, New Orleans Hornets. Gary Washburn reports that the Celtics are interested, to a point.

Twitter / @gwashburn14

#celtics will pursue Chris Kaman if he is bought out by the #hornets but not by trade

Is there a chance that he could be bought out instead of traded? It wouldn't seem as likely, but the Hornets are backing themselves into a corner by shutting him down until he's traded.

New Orleans Hornets center-forward Chris Kaman not with team | NOLA.com

New Orleans Hornets backup center-forward Chris Kaman is not with the team right now because of an organizational decision, team officials said Friday night. The Hornets are expected to pursue trade offers for Kaman, who has an expiring contract that pays him about $14 million this season.

Also, it seems that the league offices running the Hornets are going to drive the same kind of hard bargaining that they pulled with the Chris Paul trade.

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