OAKLAND, Calif. -- A handful of pregame soundbites and nuggets before the Boston Celtics visit the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena:

* Celtics coach Doc Rivers on the news that Chris Wilcox will miss the rest of the year: "It’s obviously tough -- tough for Chris first, but in the grand scheme of things, Lawrence Frank sarcastically [texted], 'You guys are in the business of savings lives.' In retrospect, that’s true. I’d rather have it that way. Basketball-wise, it puts us in a bit of a hole, so we have until [Thursday] to see if we can extract a big from somewhere. But we don’t want to give up anything. It’s going to be tough to do."

* Rivers on if there's an overwhelming urgency to obtain a big man: "Not really. The one thing I said in [his] last conversation [with Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge] was that, at the end of the day, I like our team. Obviously we need a big, but let’s not do anything that hurts this team this year or the future to try to get a big. I just don’t think we should do that."

* Rivers on if he thinks his team will be intact in 24 hours: "I would be surprised if we’re not. But you never know. Last year I may have made that statement and we traded nine guys. I mean this thing goes pretty quickly. I guess you’re telling me that Dwight [Howard] is going to be back in play, so you never know."

* Celtics captain Paul Pierce, walking through the locker room and greeting reporters, playfully shouted, "I'm still here! I'm still here!" while glancing at the clock. You have to keep a sense of humor at the trade deadline.

* Ray Allen responded fine after rolling his ankle in Los Angeles on Monday; Rivers said the team is as healthy as it gets and everyone -- at the moment -- is available (beyond Wilcox and Jermaine O'Neal).