Doc Rivers Is Pushing All The Right Buttons

Doc Rivers is on a bit of a roll lately. The decision to put Kevin Garnett at center has worked out perfectly. The decision to start Avery Bradley and bring Ray Allen off the bench has shown no ill effects so far. Now he let Pierce and Garnett join Ray Allen with a night off against the Bobcats and the rest of the team took it as a challenge (instead of a trap game) and got the win anyway.

Celtics pick up the slack, beat Bobcats with Big Three out - The Boston Globe

Rivers made the decision late Saturday to leave Pierce and Garnett in Manhattan while the rest of the team boarded a flight to Charlotte. “I keep saying our locker room is as tight as maybe [it’s] ever been and they cheer for each other,’’ Rivers said. “You could see before this game they wanted to win this game, they really did. When you sit guys people assume you are just going to show up and play, and our guys, you could see in their demeanor, I knew we were going to play hard. “I don’t know where [Pierce and Garnett] were watching, and I probably don’t want to know, but they watched it and they were very happy about it. That has to help their confidence.’’

Brilliant.