West will start
Delonte West will start tonight at the point guard position and Sebastian Telfair will come off the bench.
“Just the size at the point guard spot has helped a little bit,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “Obviously Bassy (Telfair) and Rajon (Rondo) give you other things, but when you lose Paul (Pierce), you know you’re not going to outscore teams. You have to be really solid defensively. You can’t afford to not have size at the point guard spot.”
Rivers said there is a delicate balance dealing with the confidence of players like Telfair.
“Not only with Sebastian, but all of our young guys,” said Rivers. “They’re going to be inconsistent. That’s part of learning the game. If you give them too much information they start thinking too much and they put their head down.”
“It’s always good to be home,” said Green, who said he was unhappy with the trip. “I could have done a lot of things better, particularly on defense. As a team we didn’t reach our goal, but we gave a pretty good effort.”
Green countered the increasingly popular notion that the Celtics are better off in the long run learning to play without Paul Pierce.
“It’s always helpful to have Paul Pierce on the court,” said Green.
“He’s been tremendous on defense, tremendous on offense,” said Green. “He’s always been able to do that, but right now he’s just exploiting his talents.”
“The last few games I was in a little slump,” said Gomes. “I’ve never had an injury before. I think it was being kind of cautious not wanting to get hurt again. Hopefully those days are over with.”
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