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Quick hits following Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge's weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI (93.7 FM).

On what went wrong in Wednesday's loss to the Brooklyn Nets: "Well, so first of all, you've got to give credit to Brooklyn. I honestly believe that we played really well in the first half and the game was intense, and I thought both teams were very focused. But you've got to hand it to New Jersey. I think New Jersey would have beat any team in the NBA last night the way they played. They were really into it. Deron Williams was spectacular in the game, Lopez played a fantastic game, as did Joe Johnson. They made a lot of tough shots, you've got to give them credit, and that happens in the NBA often. They're a very good team that was really on their game."

On whether the seventh seed is a representation of the kind of team the Celtics are: "I think that there are teams that are ahead of us in the standings that we can beat. But, at the same time, I think whether we finish six, seven, or eight, in the playoffs, playing one of the top three seeds is going to be a big-time challenge, and whoever we play, we will have less room for error than they will. We will have to play our best basketball in order to win a first-round playoff series."

On what gives him confidence in his team heading into the playoffs: "Well just because I know what our guys are made of. I know how they've stepped up in the past. There's been years where -- what was it, 2010, when we finished the season 27-27 [over the] last 54 games? I was not real confident going in and I was in awe of watching our team play the best basketball they have played in this whole KG era in that stretch, against Cleveland who had the leading record in the league, and against Orlando, who had the second-best record in the East, and I was in awe of what they were able to step up and do. In order to do that, you've got to have guys playing on all cylinders and I think the good news is that our team is getting healthier. Unfortunately (Rajon) Rondo and (Leandro) Barbosa and (Jared Sullinger) aren't coming back, but I feel like KG is moving well and I think Paul is getting better and moving well. But I think that, by the time the playoffs roll around, I think we will be in good shape."

On why Kevin Garnett is still wearing a walking boot if he's supposedly 100 percent right now: "So, first of all, there's no such thing as 100 percent for anybody right now. But KG, you can see how well he's moving on the court. Last night he didn't have one of his better games on the court, but he was moving very well. You can see his defense laterally and he was rebounding and he was very active. The walking boot is just precautionary. It's just, some guys keep ice on their legs after every game, sometimes their legs are sore, sometimes they're not, they do it as precautionary. The walking boot, he has some inflammation in his foot, so every time he's not playing, he has that walking boot on. He doesn't wear it all the time, but he just wears it, like, after games to make sure that his foot isn't moving any more than it needs to. So, it's just precautionary right now."

On whether he thinks Jeff Green and Kevin Garnett play well together: "Well all of the numbers suggest that they play well together, so I don't understand why people would say that they don't. I mean, Jeff and KG are terrific players. So much of it is matchups. I hear a lot of people saying, 'Jeff Green can only play when KG's not playing,' or, 'He has certain matchups.' But so much of it is it's a difficult thing to set, and is it better to have Jeff start? Now he's starting, basically, as a two guard in some cases, now that KG has come back, and that's my biggest concern going into the playoffs, just we haven't been healthy all year and playing this lineup, which I think is a good lineup -- and I think it's a lineup Doc has wanted to play more throughout the course of the year -- with Jeff and Paul both on the wing with KG. But now it takes a little from our bench and Jeff was able to come in and give us a spark off the bench and try to find a matchup where he could really exploit. So, it's a different way of playing and I think it's probably the right thing for Doc to do, but can we mesh this last week and the practice time coming up to the playoffs will be the question."

On missing Rajon Rondo in the playoffs: "Well you don't replace Rajon Rondo. ... Rondo has been a most valuable player in at least a few, but maybe even more than a few, maybe a handful, of playoff series over the last few years, with some of the best players in the world in those playoff series. He has been the most valuable player in series against Chicago, against Cleveland, against Orlando. I mean, he has had spectacular playoff series -- legendary. Last year against Miami, he was by far the one that gave us an opportunity to beat Miami and put us ahead 3-2 in that playoff series, so I think it goes without saying that we're going to miss Rondo. But nobody's going to replace Rondo. We just have to find a different way to win."

On whether Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett can carry the Celtics in the playoffs: "Well, we need them to have some flashbacks for sure. But, I think that we need a balanced effort. We need production out of Jeff, we need production out of Jason, we need production out of Avery, Courtney, Brandon Bass. We need a full team effort. We need to have those games where we have six or seven guys scoring in double figures. We're not going to get guys that are going to be scoring 40 in one playoff game. We need balance and production out of our whole team."

The Boston Celtics announced Thursday that neither Paul Pierce nor Kevin Garnett will play in Friday's visit to the Miami Heat.

Both players traveled with the team Thursday for this brief two-game road trip, but neither will dress for the first night of a back-to-back in Miami due to sore ankles. Garnett sat out eight games due to left ankle inflammation before playing the last two contests for Boston; Pierce has missed two games recently due to sore ankles.

The Celtics are 0-3 in the three games that Pierce has missed this season.

Given that both Garnett and Pierce traveled to Miami, it's likely they could both be back in the lineup for Saturday's game in Orlando. The team officially lists them as day-to-day.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers lamented a need to rest bodies, but Boston appears resigned to settling for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and will rest players as much as possible.

"I don’t love being in that situation, honestly, I’d love not to be, but that’s the situation we’re in," Rivers said after Wednesday's loss to the Nets.

Quick hits following Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers' weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI (93.7 FM) on Thursday.

On what the Celtics need to do to get ready for the playoffs: "Well, it's interesting because you're still concerned about a couple guys' rest. So, that, it's tough to accomplish things when you're looking for that. But, as far as our practices and our shootarounds, we're working extremely hard right now on our rhythm, and I think we're starting to get that."

On if he'd be satisfying finishing the season with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference: "Yeah, we're not set, though. We need to win a couple games or win one and lose one or something like that. I'm not actually sure. But, yeah, we're not going to move up. It's going to be hard to do that. I think we're a couple behind Atlanta, so let's stay where we're at and see who we're playing. It looks like New York."

On whether Kevin Garnett's presence in the lineup affects Jeff Green's production: "No, not at all. I think Kevin should actually help him score more, score easier. Just, right now, Kevin's trying to get his rhythm back, and Jeff, I thought, at least in the last couple games, has really settled. I think he's had a stretch, but he'll get his aggressiveness back. He'll be aggressive by, hopefully, tomorrow."

On taking his team to see the film "42" on Monday: "I didn't think we should practice, number one. But I thought we should be together. I think this is a time of year where you really want your team together as much as possible, just with each other. And I didn't know if it'd be motivational, but I just thought it'd be learning. It's a learning experience. You know, learning about Jackie Robinson and that whole era is educational, and I think that's good for our guys."

On his impressions of the NCAA Men's National Championship Game: "Yeah, that was a great game. It really was. And I have to say, most college basketball games are not. They're 54-48 and you know with your eyes it's not good basketball. They're playing hard and the band and Dick Vitale makes it exciting, but you know in your mind that it's not. That was good basketball. I thought Rick Pitino and (John) Beilein, they both just kind of got out of their way and allowed their players to play, and I think that's one of the things Rick does a great job of. So does Beilein. I just like both of them and how they coached the game, how the players played -- they attacked, they shot early shots, they didn't move the ball for 40 seconds and then take a shot. It was just really good basketball."

On watching the final round of the Masters on Sunday: "What's funny is, I was telling one of our officials last night before the game, I think it's my first time in five or six years where I can actually sit home. We're usually playing on this Sunday, so it's really nice to have it off, and I'll be in Orlando, because of the day off and we play there Saturday. So, I get to watch the final round of Augusta in my living room."

On trying to catch the final round of the Masters in years past: "Well, I got kicked out of the one game by (the refs). I think it was in record time, it was in the first quarter. I wasn't trying in that one. But in the other game I told you about -- I can't remember the ref, I want to say it was Steve Javie -- I was trying to get thrown out because Danny Ainge was telling me at halftime, 'Hey, Tiger's making a run. Get thrown out of the game.' And I tried, and Javie said, 'I'm sorry, I'm a big golfer, too. You're not going anywhere.'"

On if he thinks Tiger Woods will win the Masters: "You know, I really think Tiger's going to win, but you've got to pick the field. I just think you always have to pick the field."

In his first public comments since undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo told ESPN’s Hannah Storm that it’s “frustrating” to not be on the floor with his teammates but has come to accept the situation.

“I’m in a place now where I am OK with it,” Rondo told Storm in a sit-down interview that will air on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. on April 18. “I know this is my main focus, getting healthy.”

Rondo tore the ACL on Jan. 25 against the Atlanta Hawks. He didn’t think the injury was serious at the time (“I didn’t hear a pop ... I thought I could play through it,” he told Storm) and intended on playing two days later against the Miami Heat. Before that game, however, he detected something was wrong.

“It was shocking, frustrating,” he said. “I wanted to play against the Heat that day, Sunday, and I thought I was playing. But maybe 30 minutes on the clock I did my ritual, my routine, I got in the shower and something was telling me this just didn’t feel right.”

He went to the hospital that day and underwent an MRI on the knee. On his way back to TD Garden, he said he heard on the radio that he might have a torn ACL.

“I was like, ‘We just got the results, there’s no way possible,’” he said.

He got the news from the team soon after he got back to the Garden. A couple of weeks later, on Feb. 12, he underwent surgery in Florida. Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews performed the procedure, and Rondo remained in Florida for a while to begin the initial phase of his rehabilitation.

Rondo described his current rehab regimen as “intense” fundamental exercises to rebuild strength in the area of the injury.

“This is a learning process all over again as far as my leg,” Rondo said. “It’ll be good for me, have a chance to let my body heal and work on things I never worked on my body before.”

Training camp will start about seven months after Rondo went under the knife to repair the ACL. The normal recovery time for this kind of injury is about 9-12 months. NFL MVP Adrian Peterson needed less than 9 months to return from the injury, but fellow point guard Derrick Rose has still not returned to the Chicago Bulls 11 months after surgery. There was no other structural damage found in Rondo’s knee beyond the partial tear, which doctors believe might accelerate his return. Nevertheless, Rondo was hesitant to put a timetable on it.

“When I got out of surgery, for 3-4 weeks nobody said anything about when I’ll be back, or when I’ll be able to play, they just wanted me to take it one week at a time and just see how I progress from there,” he told Storm. “Everybody’s body is different. Everybody plays the game differently. An injury like this varies.”

Is there anything that scares Rondo about coming back from the torn ACL?

“Doing it again,” he said. “But other than that, no.”

BOSTON -- Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett is trying to shake any rust following an eight-game absence due to inflammation in his left ankle, but when asked about it following Boston's disappointing 101-93 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night -- just his second game back from the injury -- Garnett admitted he's still brushing off a few cobwebs.

"Absolutely," Garnett said after posting 11 points (5-of-11 shooting), eight rebounds, and four assists. "I can be better. And I will be."

In his return to action in Sunday's win over the Washington Wizards, Garnett managed 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds. It was a solid start considering the time he had missed, but Brooklyn's size and length in the front court on Wednesday halted Garnett's attempt to string together back-to-back steady shooting performances.

Garnett made just one of six first-half field goal attempts, finishing the opening 24 minutes with two points. He came back stronger in the second half, converting four of five shots, though there were signs that his timing and rhythm weren't quite where he'd like them to be. Garnett made just one of four shots in the paint, and appeared rushed at times, like when he missed consecutive layup bids early in the first frame.

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The Boston Celtics are limping to the finish line of the regular season:

BOSTON -- Being glued to the bench due to foul trouble was agonizing for Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley; watching Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams go off for 29 points and 12 assists without being able to try to slow him down was torture.

Bradley picked up his first foul 52 seconds into Wednesday's 101-93 loss at TD Garden and the whistles never quite stopped as he was limited to 12 minutes, 11 seconds of floor time. Bradley sat glued to the bench for much of the first half only to get tagged with his fourth foul 39 seconds into the third quarter and be forced right back to the pine.

“It was just hard to get going. I got out the game, really didn’t get a feel for anything at either end of the floor," said Bradley. "But it happens. All I can do is continue to keep fighting and playing hard.”

After battling through a bit of an offensive slump recently, Celtics coach Doc Rivers lamented seeing Bradley slowed by whistles in a matchup with an All-Star opponent.

"I actually think he’s playing really good defense, and I don’t know, those are the ones I didn’t like," said Rivers. "He just had one of those games when you pick up two fouls, you take him out; you come on the floor and you bump into your third foul. He starts the third quarter, I thought Deron pushed him down, and their feet get tangled and all of a sudden you’ve got your fourth foul. Those games happen. It had to be unbelievably frustrating for him."

Added Rivers: "It was really frustrating for our team as well, because we needed him. It’s no coincidence that right when Avery went off the floor, Deron Williams got ultra-aggressive. And I give Deron a lot of credit; when Avery picked up that first foul, he attacked him. Because they know; they want him off the floor. So Deron’s smart, he wants to score. And the best way to do that is taking Avery off the floor."

Read on for more postgame notes, including P.J. Carlesimo reflecting on Jeff Green's development, how the Celtics missed out on Reggie Evans, and Kris Joseph's return to Boston:

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BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Boston Celtics 101-93 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Deron Williams scored a game-high 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go along with 12 assists, while Brook Lopez added 21 points (and was a team-best plus-27 in plus/minus). Old friend Joe Johnson finished with 20 points, while Reggie Evans was his usual rebounding presence, grabbing a game-high 14 boards. For Boston, Paul Pierce scored a team-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three rebounds, three assists and three turnovers over 32:44. He didn't get much help as Brandon Bass (10 points) started fast and quickly cooled, while Jeff Green was 4-of-17 shooting for 11 points.

TURNING POINT
The game got away from Boston over the final four minutes of the first half. The Celtics were up a point until the Nets embarked on a 15-3 run, connecting on six of seven attempts (with Lopez accounting for seven points). Boston missed four of its five shots during the run and turned the ball over twice. A Jerry Stackhouse free throw with 15 seconds to go in the second quarter had the Nets on top 53-41. Boston never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

BASS POSTERIZES LOPEZ
One of the few highlights for Boston: Bass put Lopez on poster in the first half. Coming off a little pick-and-roll on the right wing, Bass drove free to the hoop before Lopez shuffled over with help. It did little to detour Bass, who threw down a ferocious two-handed slam that left Lopez recoiling.

NOT-SO FREE THROWS
The Celtics went the entire first half without attempting a free throw and didn't get to the line until Paul Pierce drew a shooting foul with 8:22 to play in the third quarter. Pierce got to the line seven times in the frame, but Boston finished with just 17 attempts. The Nets were 25-of-28 overall at the stripe.

FOUL TROUBLE FOR BRADLEY
Avery Bradley spent much of the night in foul trouble. He picked up his first foul 52 seconds in and was on the bench less than three minutes later for his second whistle. Bradley played five second-quarter minutes before picking up his third foul. It took a mere 39 seconds for Bradley to get his fourth at the start of the third quarter (and he was quickly pulled from the game again). Bradley finished with two points and five fouls over 12:11 and wasn't able to help slow Williams.

SCOREBOARD WATCHING
It wasn't all bad news for Boston as Milwaukee fell in overtime in Orlando, keeping the Bucks three games back of the Celtics (and trimming Boston's magic number to two to ensure no worse than the seventh seed). Meanwhile, the sixth-seeded Hawks throttled the 76ers, moving 2.5 games ahead of Boston.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Garnett picked up his team-leading eighth technical foul of the season late in the first half. That's two in two games since Garnett returned from left ankle inflammation. The next closest player for Boston? Rehabbing Rajon Rondo at four. Doc Rivers does have seven techs on the season (trailing only Indiana's Frank Vogel among the league's coaches).

WHAT IT MEANS
The Nets continue to frustrate the Celtics, winning the season series by taking three of the four meetings. Rivers joked before the game that he hoped Williams would have another off night; it didn't happen. The Celtics play three of their final four regular-season games away from TD Garden and head out on a two-game road trip now with a Floridian back-to-back, in Miami (Friday) and Orlando (Saturday). Boston wraps its home slate on Tuesday with a visit from potential playoff foe Indiana Pacers in a national TV battle.

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets haven't seen each other since Christmas and a lot has changed, but each side remembers the damage inflicted by the other.

The Celtics are still smarting about two early-season thumpings that left coach Doc Rivers calling his team "soft," while the Nets haven't forgotten Boston's yuletide victory in Brooklyn.

"Well, we’re different and they are too, obviously," said Rivers. "I’m sure their confidence is much higher. When we played them on Christmas Day, they were going through a lot of stuff. They handed it to us pretty well earlier in the year. I think both teams are different."

Echoed Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo: "Obviously Rajon [Rondo] not being here, [Jason Collins] started for them at center last time, [Kevin Garnett is] just coming back [and] we’re playing kind of a different roster now than we were playing then. It’s different. But again, they play the same way. They came in and just lit us up on Christmas Day and we played well the game prior to that up here. I don’t think either of us will do things differently, I just think it’ll be different players."

While coach Doc Rivers has hinted he's got a rest plan in mind for his veterans, it won't come tonight (no surprise given that Boston has had the last two days off). The Celtics will once again trot out their new starting unit of Avery Bradley, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Garnett, only the second time that unit has started this season.

Rivers likes the versatility that lineup offers, both on the court, and with an ability to audible to different combinations. The Nets provide an excellent test for a lineup that is as big as Boston gets with a lack of pure size on its roster.

"I like the ability to have that lineup and other lineups instead of just having this 'small lineup' with Jeff at the 4," said Rivers. "We want to have three lineups -- Jeff at the 2, Jeff at the 3, Jeff at the 4. Or if you want to call Paul the 2, I don’t care who you call the 2. I just think it gives us more versatility. This lineup is good. It’s important because it gives us a third lineup, because there’s one lineup we can’t go to, and that’s the very big lineup, like two 7-footers. We’re not going to be able to do that. We need to have as much versatility as possible going into the playoffs to play multiple styles."

The Boston Celtics (40-37, 27-12 home) host the Brooklyn Nets (45-32, 21-17 away) on Wednesday night at TD Garden (8 p.m., ESPN). Here's what to watch for:

* LET'S GET CHIPPY!: The Nets pushed Boston around twice in early-season play (leading Celtics coach Doc Rivers to call his team "soft."). Boston responded with a Christmas Day win in Brooklyn, but the Celtics are expecting a firm test on Wednesday. "Brooklyn's one of the better teams in the East. I really expect this to be a playoff-type atmosphere," said captain Paul Pierce. "The way they've been playing, they're one of the top four teams in the East. Deron Williams is playing his best basketball right now, and you kind of feel some sort of chippiness between the two teams, to be honest with you, when we match up against Brooklyn. So it's definitely a good test for a lot of us and a lot of the new guys also."

* GO BIG OR GO HOME: The Celtics are expected to trot out their new-look starting 5 -- a bigger group with only one pure guard in Avery Bradley -- but the Nets counter with a frontcourt that features Brook Lopez and rebound machine Reggie Evans. Said Rivers of Brooklyn, "They're big. They're a big basketball team. Lopez is a monster. So that's the challenge. And they're physical, they're tough, they're veterans, they match us in that. So those are usually the type of games that are fun. I don't call them chippy, I call them fun." Evans hauled in 24 boards in Brooklyn's 104-83 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Added Rivers: "[Evans is] a smart player. I think guys who are specialty players are pretty smart players, especially the rebounders. I don’t think they get enough credit for their basketball IQ. To be able to do that, you have to think the game at a really high level, and he’s done that.”

* SYNERGY SNAPSHOT: The Nets rank 14th in the league offensively, averaging 0.928 points per play, according to Synergy Sports data. Brooklyn has been extremely effective in isolation situations (looking at you, Joe Johnson; the former Celtic accounts for 30 percent of Brooklyn's ISO action and averages a solid 0.905 points per play in those situations). It's Lopez, however, who is the team's most efficient scorer, ranking in the 91st percentile while averaging 1.031 points per play overall. Defensively, the Nets rank 16th overall allowing 0.933 points per play. Lopez again anchors that unit, but teams have actually found some success going at Brooklyn in the post (the big bodies simply discourage opponents as only 7.5 percent of plays have come in the post).

* NO SECOND CHANCES: The Nets rank second in the league in offensive rebound percentage (and second in total rebound percentage). While they don't smother opponents with second-chance points (11th overall), they do an under-the-radar job of preventing second-chance opportunities and won't put opponents on the foul line (second in opponent free-throw rate). Brooklyn will be attempting to win the season series for the first time since 2006. Boston simply hasn't matched up well against the Nets this season, but the two teams are likely to avoid each other in the postseason (as the fourth seed, Brooklyn couldn't cross paths with Boston until the East finals and both teams have plenty of obstacles to navigate to get to that point).

ESPN.com's Chad Ford debuted his Mock Draft, Version 1.0 on Tuesday with the Celtics taking 7-foot Gonzaga center Kelly Olynyk with the 16th pick:


Hop HERE to view Olynyk's Player Card.

After the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics own a three-game cushion on the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with five games to go.

Milwaukee owns the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Celtics, but Boston's magic numbers -- by our rough calculations -- is three (any combination Boston wins or Milwaukee losses) to ensure Boston won't slip past the seventh spot. A glance at each team's remaining schedule:

Boston's remaining schedule: vs. Brooklyn (Wednesday), at Miami (Friday), at Orlando (Saturday), vs. Indiana (Tuesday), at Toronto (4/17).

Milwaukee's remaining schedule: at Orlando (Wednesday), at Atlanta (Friday), at Charlotte (Saturday), vs. Denver (Monday), at Oklahoma City (4/17).

If Boston stands firm at the seventh seed, it would put the Celtics on pace to play the New York Knicks in the opening round of the playoffs. The Knicks, winners of 13 straight, have a 2.5-game edge over Indiana (it'd be more but the Pacers rallied from a ridiculous deficit to top Cleveland on Tuesday).

The question is whether Boston can (or desires to) shuffle up. The Celtics are 1.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks (and 2 games behind the Bulls). It's unlikely Boston can leapfrog both teams in such a short span, but if they went full throttle to the finish line, it could potentially catch one. The gain is marginal at best in moving up one spot and the guess here is that Boston will continue to err on the side of rest and health, and be content to simply remain in front of Milwaukee.

A glance at Atlanta's remaining schedule: at Philadelphia (Wednesday), vs. Milwaukee (Friday), vs. Toronto (Tuesday), at New York (4/17).

Hollinger's Playoff Odds predict the East will maintain order:

WALTHAM, Mass. -- With a regular season that practically has been defined by injuries and lineup adjustments winding down, the Boston Celtics received one of their first doses of regularity in Sunday's 107-96 victory over the Washington Wizards, as their preferred starting five of Avery Bradley, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett finally was on the floor together.

The Celtics are hoping for something of a trickle-down effect with that stability, as having the first five solidified should help cement the roles of the reserves. Boston's bench looks almost nothing like it did at the beginning of the campaign, with season-ending injuries to Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, the trade for Jordan Crawford, and the acquisitions of Shavlik Randolph and Terrence Williams drastically altering its makeup.

With the newest faces potentially taking on key roles come playoff time, coach Doc Rivers knows he still has a few things to work out before the end of the season.

"I think it helps [the bench] as well," Rivers said Tuesday of having his revised starting five intact. "There's still some moving parts, fortunately or unfortunately for us right now, on our bench but I like our unit."

"I think with the move, you're going to have guys knowing what's expected of them, knowing their definite role and how much time they're going to get," Pierce said. "So that definitely can improve on a lot of consistency, especially in these last few games going into the playoffs."

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WALTHAM, Mass. -- Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce said prior to Tuesday's practice that his sore right ankle is continuing to improve and that he was planning on participating in the entirety of the session.

"It's getting better," Pierce said. "I'm getting treatment, doing the necessary things I need to do to be better. It's doing a lot better."

Pierce is expected to play in Wednesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets, though he said he'll discuss with coach Doc Rivers the possibility of resting at times over the final five games of the regular season.

"I'm going to leave that up to Coach," Pierce said. "Maybe I'll talk to him, talk about these last five games, depending on how my body feels, depending on the seeding situation we're in. We'll figure something out."

Rivers told reporters he has a plan in place for resting Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who returned to the lineup Sunday following an eight-game absence due to inflammation in his left ankle, before the end of the season, but he wasn't willing to disclose any details. The Celtics currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, and are 2 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Milwaukee. Rivers, while aware of the need to rest his veterans at times, doesn't want to see his club drop to the eighth spot and set itself up for a first-round matchup with the Miami Heat.

"Obviously, we have to take care of our position," Rivers said. "But, for Kevin, rest is always important, and Paul as well. But, other than that, we've thought about (resting them), we've talked about it."

Read on for other notes from Tuesday's session, including Pierce and Garnett stressing consistency, and Rivers' thoughts on an early screening of the new Jackie Robinson film, "42."

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ESPN.com is running an abbreviated version of its popular NBARank series, focusing on the top 30 players as voted by a panel of experts. Two Celtics landed in 15 spots unveiled so far with Paul Pierce at No. 30 and Rajon Rondo at No. 22:




Rondo's season-ending injury likely didn't help his stock as he tumbles 10 spots from the 2012 vote. Pierce dips just one spot since the last poll.