Paul Pierce did not practice with the team today. He called in sick, literally. Pierce has a cold (Doc wouldn't use the word "flu") but is expected to play tomorrow.
Delonte West practiced in full today but is not expected to play tomorrow, although he wants to. He says he's about 85-percent healthy. He's tested the wrist a few times and feels good and hopes to play before the All-Star break, maybe even against Miami.
Not expected to play tomorrow: Shaquille O'Neal, Semih Erden, Delonte West, Marquis Daniels, and Jermaine O'Neal. That means they'll be pretty thin at the SF and C positions. Rivers says he's fine with the 30 minutes that Perkins has been playing lately, so expect to see it again tomorrow especially with these injuries.
Danny Ainge said that he's content with Von Wafer playing the SF position for now because of the uncertainty of Daniels' situation. They didn't have much updated news on Daniels, only that he's home. They should know more by next week.
Ray Allen fielded countless questions about potentially breaking the 3-point record at home against the Lakers. He said that it "feels right" to break it at home in front of everyone. Asked whether or not potentially breaking it against the Lakers makes it any sweeter, he paused and smiled before admitting that it does.
Kevin Garnett has been a hot topic as of late around the NBA in terms of his on-court behavior. Jeff Clark wrote a nice piece calling KG "our jerk" followed by another poster's response, drza44, claiming that we're missing who KG really is. Both are great reads -- check them out. Along those lines, though, Doc Rivers had a few thoughts of his own on if Garnett is being labeled as a "bad boy" today in the NBA:
"Yeah it's amazing. That's fine. I don't think Kevin cares one way or another, we sure don't. Like I said the other day, especially when you hear any coach anything, ask them if they'd trade for him. I got a feeling they'd say, 'Yeah, yeah, we'll take him right now.'"
He also had quite the comparison on how this whole thing has escalated:
"Yeah I just think once it gets rolling then everyone picks on everything. We should call him Lindsay Lohan. It just feels it's snowballing right now, so, whatever. I know Kevin could care less for sure."
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/1810021/GYI0063260275.jpg)