(SB Nation Boston, Jay King) Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett participated in the team's Wednesday morning shoot-around and has been upgraded from doubtful to probable for Wednesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.

Garnett missed Tuesday's practice with a hip flexor that Doc Rivers said was not serious, and trainer Ed Lacerte initially suggested to Rivers that Garnett could miss two to three days.

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Herald Kevin Garnett out of practice
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The Celtics finally got in a practice yesterday and one of the things that Doc mentioned was working on going with a small lineup.

Kevin Garnett out of practice - BostonHerald.com

The practice was the C’s first in 10 days. According to Rivers, a remarkable amount of ground was covered. "Today we did a lot with what we had," Rivers said. "We worked on a lot of zone, offense and defense. We worked on a lot of small lineup, which we might have no choice but to use. Then we worked on some traditional stuff. "It was only an hour and a half, but we got a lot of work in."

With no Garnett and no Brandon Bass, the Celtics will be small regardless. KG and Bass have both been filling in as occasional centers. In theory Jermaine O'Neal is supposed to be ready to go tonight (knock on wood and all that) but the next on the depth chart would have to be Wilcox. He had a good game the other day (after taking some heat from Doc) so maybe he can keep that progress up. We'll also see plenty more of JaJuan Johnson, which is a nice silver lining.

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John Hollinger has been crunching numbers again. This time he looks to see which players would be good compliments to Dwight Howard. Whaddayaknow, the Celtics are actually a very good fit. Math rules!

NBA -- Dwight Howard's potential teammates - ESPN

Rajon Rondo, 61.5; Paul Pierce, 86.4; Ray Allen, 109.1; Kevin Garnett, minus-34.9: You'll notice that Boston's three perimeter players all rate very highly for playing with Dwight, and that even Garnett's mark is pretty solid compared to the other frontcourt players on this list. You have to think this might pique Howard's interest ever so slightly -- he has a great distributor to get him the ball, two deadly 3-point shooters on either wing, and carte blanche to get every defensive rebound. (Incidentally, Garnett, like Griffin, had his 3-point percentage ratcheted down to a more a believable 30 percent from his current 75 percent on four attempts). Of course, this is only one axis of Dwight's decision; age is another, so while Howard may be a nice fit with these four at the present, it's hard to imagine the three elder Celtics lasting very far into a Dwight Howard tenure in Beantown.

Just get to free agency Dwight. Then you can sign with Boston, we'll bring back KG and Ray for cheap 1 year deals, you can make a run at a title and then build a championship contender for years to come in the future.

Of course if you don't choo-choo-choose us, you'll be just another overrated star.

Related: Mannix: Cs have a good pitch for Dwight Howard - RedsArmy.com

The school of thought is that teams would be working on resting their starters and top 6 players this season to make up for the fact that the schedule is so hectic. The Celtics have even more incentive given their age. So how are coaches doing? Hardwood Paraoxysm ran the numbers and the results aren't good. Most teams are actually playing their top 6 players more.

NBA Mythbusting: Are Coaches Resting Their Players More This Year? | Hardwood Paroxysm

As the season progresses and the trade deadline passes, it’s perfectly reasonable to anticipate this year’s rate regressing to last year’s. However, the takeaway here is that, at the very least, coaches are not resting their starters/top six players any more than they did last year. Be it due to injury or the night-in, night-out pressure to win and stay off the hot seat, the distribution of minutes so far this season is actually more compact than last year. When your favorite Blazers or Bulls fan complains about their coach not pulling the starters in a blowout, they’re not just blowing smoke. It’s a league-wide trend.

The Celtics actually are one of the exceptions. Doc is playing his top 6 about 4% less. So at least he's trying.

The OKC Thunder have a young guard named Reggie Jackson (no, not Mr. October). He's not shooting particularly well and he's not exactly racking up the assists either, but they think he can be an impact player for them. So how can he learn on the job while contributing to a contending team? One blogger decided to look at Avery Bradley for inspiration.

Reggie Jackson and the Thunder: Pressing? - Welcome to Loud City

Bradley helped his team crush the spirits of Nelson and the Magic because of his baseline to baseline defensive pressure, which materially altered the Magic offense and galvanized his own team's defensive effort.

Back to Jackson. He isn't scoring the ball, he isn't setting up people offensively, and he is struggling to manage the team's offense. What is left? Ask Avery Bradley. It is defensive play. It is play that does not require a single shot attempt, is not hindered by a bad offensive set, and can work against some of the most seasoned veterans. Jackson has a great build for defense. He is low to the floor, quick, strong, and has a freakish seven foot wingspan that enables him to challenge the dribble and get into passing lanes. We know that Brooks doesn't use the full-court press. However, I have to wonder, is there an opportunity there for him to use Reggie and his raw physical tools to have a meaningful impact on the game? To just tell Jackson, "Don't worry about points, assists, or setting up the perfect pick and roll. Just go out there and lock up their PG for 94 feet"? At the very worst, Jackson would slow down the other team for an extra 4-6 seconds, which becomes huge when a team only has 24 seconds to get off a shot.

Not a bad idea.

(SB Nation Boston, Jay King) Kevin Garnett missed Tuesday's practice due to a hip flexor, headlining a long Boston Celtics injury report. Garnett is considered doubtful for Wednesday's game against Detroit at the TD Garden. Also doubtful is Mickael Pietrus, who sat out half of Tuesday's practice to receive treatment on his knee.

Jermaine O'Neal, who missed Sunday's victory against the Chicago Bulls, said his shoulder is still sore but foresees being healthy enough to suit up against Detroit. Brandon Bass also missed Sunday's outing, but is not expected to return for another week or two.

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