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Courtney Lee smiled as he approached the pack of reporters, extended his hand to greet some of the familiar faces, and said he was genuinely excited to see the media members at a late-summer event. All of which perplexed those with tape recorders, because, let's face it, we're simply not used to such an enthusiastic greeting.

To Lee, the presence of reporters and all the basketball questions meant the 2013-14 season was inching closer. After a disappointing first season with the Boston Celtics, the 27-year-old guard is eager to prove he can offer more than what we saw during an inconsistent 2012-13 campaign.

"It does humble you," said Lee, who inked a five-year, $21.4 million contract as part of the sign-and-trade deal that delivered him from Houston last summer. Boston gave up little more than end-of-the-roster clutter to bring back a player who many thought could have been the steal of the summer.

But Lee never quite delivered on his "3 and D" reputation, his long-distance shooting off target early in the year and his defense uneven at times. Lee managed to compensate, shooting a career-best 46.4 percent from the floor overall, and he was a starter when Boston played some of its best basketball of the season. But his production dipped nearly four points per game, his turnover rate skyrocketed, and by the playoffs he was largely a spectator, logging just 39 minutes in four appearances during Boston's first-round exit.

To his credit, Lee never sulked, even as he slipped out of Doc Rivers' rotation late in the year. He put in his work, dutifully answered reporters' queries about his own struggles, and pledged after the season to bounce back.

"It does humble you," said Lee. "The first thing about it is just knowing it, and owning up to it. That's what I tried to do. I know I wasn't consistent at all last year, so that's why I've worked, put in numerous hours this offseason getting my confidence back, watching film from previous years. Like I said, I just want to make that transition to this season."


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Like every good team, the Boston Celtics will enter the offseason with multiple plans of attack based on how the summer unfolds. Unlike past years, however, deciding which initial outline is Plan A isn't quite as easy to determine. The Celtics have plenty of options -- and that's not necessarily a good thing -- as each sketch has its pitfalls and promise.

While there was much more roster uncertainty last summer, at least in terms of the amount of unrestricted free agents, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was adamant that re-signing Kevin Garnett was Plan A, and the team was able to hit the ground running when Garnett inked a three-year extension before the start of free agency.

This year? You can believe Ainge when he says he's not really sure which direction the team is headed. An early playoff exit makes it an extra long crawl to the NBA draft later this month, which serves as the sort of unofficial start of roster construction for the 2013-14 season.

Over the next month, we'll hear an endless amount of speculation about which direction the Celtics might be leaning -- like the out-of-town report this week that suggested the Celtics were ready to buy out Paul Pierce -- but the truth of the matter is that it's a fluid situation, and all Ainge can do at this point is gather information about potential moves and be ready to activate his plan of choice when the moment arrives.

There seems to be four main scenarios in play this offseason:

• Keep the band together: Minimal changes, bank on health
• Goodbye, captain: Roster tweaked with Pierce departure
• Out with the old: Moving on without both KG and Pierce
• Complete teardown: Extreme makeover: Celtics edition

Over the next four days, we'll take a closer look at each possible option, gauge the potential for it to occur, determine some moves that might go along with it, and debate whether it's the best course of attack. First up: We're putting the band back together.

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After the Boston Celtics' 2012-13 campaign met an untimely end, we've busted out our red pens and assigned grades to each player based on their individual performances this season. This is the 13th in a series of end-of-the-season report cards:

Player: Courtney Lee
2012-13 averages: 7.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 24.9 mpg, 46.4 FG%, 37.2 3PT%
2012-13 salary: $5 million

Season in a paragraph: Despite limited offseason resources last summer, the Celtics worked a creative three-team sign-and-trade deal that sent out four end-of-the-roster players and a couple second-round draft picks in exchange for Lee. Due to injuries at the guard position, Lee started nearly half the season for Boston, but never quite carved out a defined role. By the postseason, he had slipped out of the rotation, logging consecutive DNPs while playing just 39 total minutes in four playoff appearances.

Season highlight: For Lee, his season peaked in late January in the aftermath of a season-ending ACL injury to Rajon Rondo, which thrust him into the starting lineup. Boston went on to play some of its most inspired ball of the season, ripping off seven straight wins after Rondo went down. Lee combined with Avery Bradley to form the "Pitbulls" -- a defensive-minded backcourt that helped Boston go 13-4 through mid-March before injuries finally caught up with the Celtics.

Season lowlight: Lee sprained his ankle in the closing moments of a loss in Dallas on March 22. He missed the next three games and essentially lost his starting job in the process (Boston soon shifted to a smaller lineup that inserted Jeff Green with the starters). Despite closing the season strong with increased time as Boston rested veteran bodies late in the regular season, Lee faded from the playoff rotation after Game 1.

Final grade: C-

Teacher's notes: Let's start with the good: Lee lived up to his reputation as a corner 3-point specialist (connecting on 44.2 percent of those attempts), shot a career-high 46.4 percent from the floor overall, and posted the highest assist rate of his career while tasked with increased ball-handling responsibilities. The bad? Lee struggled mightily with 3-pointers above the breaks (29 percent), watched Boston's defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) climb two points when he was on the floor, and was prone to fits of turnovers. The biggest problem for Lee was that he simply never carved out a role, and once he was relegated back to a bench role late in the season, Celtics coach Doc Rivers struggled to find spots to lean on him. Lee posted solid offensive numbers, as crunched by Synergy Sports Technology (0.942 points per play, 67th percentile), but his defense was inconsistent, even when running with a starting unit that featured Bradley and Kevin Garnett (overall, Lee allowed 0.858 points per play, ranking in the 54th percentile among all league players).

What's next? Lee has three years and $16.4 million left on the deal he inked as part of the sign-and-trade swap. The question is whether he'll continue his journeyman ways (four teams in five NBA seasons) or emerge as a key part of Boston's younger nucleus. Lee was an excellent locker room presence and handled himself maturely when his role diminished in the playoffs. He deserves another chance to assert himself, though his name will almost certainly bubble up in trade whispers given his salary and Boston's potential need to make over parts of its roster (depending on how the summer plays out). Lee pledged to get back to work early this offseason in hopes of a better showing during the 2013-14 campaign.

Honor roll: Click HERE to read past report cards.

Don't agree with teacher? Just want to sound off on Lee's 2012-13 season? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

After playing Jordan Crawford just over 10 minutes in the Celtics' Game 1 loss of their first-round playoff series with the New York Knicks, head coach Doc Rivers vowed to give him more time in Game 2, and did so, as Crawford logged 25:15 of floor time in Boston's 87-71 loss on Tuesday.

But the increase in time for Crawford meant fewer minutes for Courtney Lee, who played over 20 minutes in Game 1, but just four minutes in Game 2, checking in late in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.

Rivers was asked Wednesday about his preference of Crawford over Lee, and he said he simply thinks Crawford is playing better than Lee right now.

"Yeah, it's not that deep," Rivers said. "I just think right now (Crawford is) is (playing better) and I think offensively he gives you a better shot at it. Courtney, defensively, is better, so it really depends on -- with us, because of the injuries we have at the guard spots, it really depends on the matchups for us, whether Jordan, in certain spots, or Courtney, will play. And that's just the way it's going to be."

Lee had been a part of Rivers' rotation for virtually all of the regular season, but he suffered a left ankle sprain late in March and missed three consecutive games. Rivers noted that during Lee's brief absence and in the games he spent trying to re-establish a rhythm, Jeff Green and Crawford both played well and earned greater consideration for postseason minutes.

Following Tuesday's loss, Lee downplayed the rotation talk, saying that he was frustrated only because the team lost, and not because he suffered a dip in minutes.

"Because we lost (my frustration level is) high," Lee said. "But, because of the rotation, that doesn't bother me. If we had won, it'd have been a good thing. But, it doesn't bother me at all. Like I said, because we lost everybody's frustration level is up."

Rivers said he discussed playing time with Lee, telling him "there's a competition for minutes," and reiterated that everyone needs to be ready to play when their name is called, regardless of how long they might be on the floor.

"In the playoffs, you've got to be ready when you're ready and when you're called," Rivers said. "You can't have any excuses or anything like that. Every team shortens the bench, guys play more minutes, some guys play less. The starters play more, everybody else plays less. You've just got to be bought into the team and if you get called for a minute you have to be ready, or 20 minutes you have to be ready. That's what winning teams do."

Rivers acknowledged Lee's advantage over Crawford on defense, and, because of that, it's still possible Lee could see a renewed uptick in minutes during certain points of this series. And that's what Lee is focusing on, noting after Tuesday's loss that he'll remain ready in the event Rivers does decide to utilize him again.

"You've just got to be ready if he does call your name," Lee said. "That's how I go into every game. That's how I'm going to approach the next one."

After a misstep in Dallas left him stumbling, Boston Celtics guard Courtney Lee is getting back on his feet as the playoffs approach:


An excerpt from today's featured story:

* LEE ROUNDING INTO FORM: There may have been no more encouraging development for Boston during this weekend's Floridian soiree than the resurgence of Lee, who put together excellent outings in Miami and Orlando to again show that he has potential to be a key contributor in the playoffs. Playing against the Magic, who drafted him 22nd overall in 2008, Lee connected on 7 of 10 shots and matched a season-high with 20 points. It might have taken 80 games, but his weekend exploits suggest things finally could be clicking for Lee.

NEW YORK -- After missing three games due to a sprained left ankle, Boston Celtics guard Courtney Lee returned to action in Friday's win over the Atlanta Hawks, but was limited to six field goal-less minutes in what amounted to a "see how it feels" experiment.

That same method was in effect for Sunday's matchup with the New York Knicks, though the results were far more favorable, despite the Celtics dropping a 108-89 decision at Madison Square Garden.

Lee scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting and grabbed four rebounds over 27:58 of encouraging floor time during Sunday's loss. More importantly, he didn't appear limited in any way, which spells good things moving forward as he'll seek to reestablish his rhythm heading into the postseason.

"I kind of forgot about (the ankle)," Lee said. "When I'm out there, I'm definitely frustrated by how the game's going and the last thing that I'm thinking about is my ankle. I was trying to find ways to get back into the game, but it feels good. It's fine."

Coach Doc Rivers said before the game that the eye test would serve as his gauge for Lee's minutes, and clearly he felt comfortable with what he was seeing.

"I thought he was much better," Rivers said. "I thought he played with better speed and force."

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Celtics guard Courtney Lee participated in Boston's morning shootaround on Friday and is a game-time decision to play this evening against the Hawks, according to the team.

Lee sprained his left ankle last Friday night in Dallas and has been sidelined since, missing the team's last three games. If healthy enough to return, he could add some stability to a starting lineup that's been in flux with both Lee and Kevin Garnett sidelined by ankle injuries.

The Boston Celtics will be without Courtney Lee on Wednesday night in Cleveland.

Neither Lee nor Kevin Garnett -- both battling left ankle ailments -- made the trip with the team. For Lee, who sprained his ankle Friday in Dallas, this will be the third straight game he's missed after appearing in the first 68 contests.

The Celtics started Jordan Crawford in place of Lee on Tuesday in order to keep Jason Terry in a reserve role.

Lee could be back on the floor as early as Friday's visit from Atlanta. Garnett is expected out for two weeks with ankle inflammation.

Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and guard Courtney Lee will both miss Saturday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to sprained left ankles, the team announced.

Lee tweaked his left ankle late in Boston's 104-94 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, but it's unclear when Garnett suffered his own injury.

Saturday will mark just the fourth missed game of the season for Garnett, who had just returned from a left adductor strain and a bout of the flu that kept him out of consecutive games last week. Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters before Saturday's game that Garnett would likely undergo an MRI for the injury.

Lee, meanwhile, will miss only his first game of the season on Saturday.

Jeff Green and Jason Terry are expected to start in place of Garnett and Lee, respectively.

For Memphis, Marc Gasol is out indefinitely after aggravating an abdominal tear in Friday's loss to New Orleans.

Boston Celtics guard Courtney Lee suffered a mild sprained left ankle in Friday's loss to the Dallas Mavericks and is day-to-day, according to the team. His availability for Saturday's visit to Memphis is uncertain.

Lee landed awkwardly on an opponent's foot while trying to defend on the perimeter as Boston made a late-game charge. Play continued with Lee on the ground and O.J. Mayo buried a clinching 3-pointer that pushed Dallas' lead to eight with 81 seconds to play.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters that he hadn't gotten an update from the training staff, but noted, "[Lee] said he was good; we'll see [Saturday]."

Later Rivers added: "I didn’t think it was major injury, I can tell you that. I was hoping that he could get up, because we needed him to get up at that point. The damnedest play, you’re down five, making a run, and you got a guy laying on the floor, it felt like it took 40 seconds [and] they make a 3. We were stuck, do you foul? Down five, you don’t want to take a foul, you’re just hoping someone misses a shot and somehow we got a rebound. But it didn’t work out for us."

Lee has appeared in all 68 games for Boston this season, including 36 starts. If he can't suit up in Memphis, the Celtics could look to Jason Terry or Jordan Crawford to step into that role -- or shuffle Paul Pierce to more of a guard spot and insert Jeff Green into the starting lineup.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 83-81 on Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Jeff Green muscled in a layup with 0.5 seconds remaining off a feed from Kevin Garnett -- a beautifully designed final play as the Celtics overcame a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Pacers on their home floor. Garnett scored a team-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while Avery Bradley and Paul Pierce each had 13 points. Paul George scored a team-high 16 points for Indiana, while David West (11 points, 16 rebounds) and Roy Hibbert (12 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

THE FINAL MINUTE
The Celtics simply refused to roll over and battled back multiple times in this game. Bradley sneaked free for an uncontested layup with 1:21 to go to tie the game at 81. After each team missed chances to pull ahead, the Celtics got a final-shot opportunity. Green fed Garnett on the left elbow, then curled around and received the ball, storming the baseline. He fumbled the ball a bit but was able to muscle it in for the winning bucket with a half-second to go.

C'S CAN'T CLOSE FIRST HALF
With the Pacers threatening to open a double-digit lead, the Celtics got some momentum late in the first half by making it a one-possession game. But things unraveled in a hurry. Looking to go 2-for-1, Bradley got blocked on a baseline drive and George delivered a dunk in transition. Pierce turned the ball over the next trip down, and West converted a three-point play as Indy's lead went back to nine. The Pacers pushed their lead as high as 14 midway through the third quarter (Lance Stephenson capped a 7-0 run with a dunk for a 63-49 lead).

C'S MAKE THEIR RUN
The Celtics knocked their deficit to 10 after three quarters and scored the first five points of the final frame to make things interesting again. When the Pacers went cold, Boston clawed within a point, but George Hill scored eight points for Indiana in 61 seconds -- two 3-pointers and a dunk in transition after a Hibbert block -- and the lead was soon at nine (81-72 with 4:36 to go). But Boston simply would not go quietly, storming back and setting up Green's heroics.

MENACE IN THE MIDDLE
In just over eight minutes of first-quarter play, Hibbert posted 12 points (on 6-of-9 shooting) with seven rebounds and a block while absolutely dominating play at the defensive end of the floor. The Pacers led 27-19 after the frame. He didn't score another point the rest of the night.

D.J.'S DEBUT
D.J. White, in his third game with Boston since inking a 10-day contract, made his debut to start the second quarter. He played 3:43, grabbing two rebounds and blocking two shots, while missing his only field goal attempt.

KG JOINS TOP 10 IN BOARDS
After leapfrogging Hakeem Olajuwon last week, Garnett shuffled into the top 10 all time in rebounds, moving past Wes Unseld into 10th place with 10 caroms on the night. Garnett has some work to do to move higher -- Walt Bellamy is 467 rebounds ahead of him in ninth place.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Garnett and Hibbert got matching technicals late in the fourth quarter for some post-whistle jostling. For Garnett, it's his team-leading seventh technical foul of the season.

WHAT IT MEANS
Wow, what a win for Boston. The Celtics could have rolled over on the second night of a back-to-back multiple times but hung in there and found a way to emerge with a gutsy win. That's four in a row for Boston, which is a season-high six games over .500. The Celtics get a day off before hosting the Hawks on Friday night at TD Garden. They are back on the road for two games after that, including Sunday's national TV battle in Oklahoma City.

Between the Celtics winning seven of their first eight games in February, the All-Star break, the trade deadline, and the recent five-game road swing, Courtney Lee wasn't about to dominate the headlines, but the versatile guard just delivered arguably his finest month of the season.

Like many on Boston's roster, Lee had struggled through waves of inconsistency, but February saw him deliver a consistently balanced game that featured season-highs in a wealth of statistical categories.

Lee's February averages of 28.2 minutes, 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists were all higher than those of any other month this season, as were his overall field goal percentage (47.2) and 3-point field goal percentage (41.4 -- the first time he's eclipsed the 40 percent mark for an entire month).

Lee has settled back into a starting role since Rajon Rondo was lost for the year with a torn right ACL, and has deferred the primary ball-handling duties to fellow combo guard Avery Bradley. But that hasn't deterred Lee from being aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. As his shooting and scoring numbers indicate, he's settled into a comfortable offensive groove and has made an effort to take high-percentage shots. According to NBA.com, in the month of February, Lee's taken more field goal attempts (40) in the restricted area than from any other location on the floor. Add in him knocking down eight of his 16 corner 3-point field goal attempts this month, and it's clear Lee established himself as a reliable inside-outside scoring threat for the Celtics.

Lee also finished February with his second-highest monthly usage rate of the season (16.5), but didn't settle for simply scoring points on his own. According to NBA.com, he finished the month with an assist percentage (the percentage of teammates' field goals a player assists on when he's on the floor) of 14.5 percent, good for his second-highest monthly figure of the season. By comparison, Lee's season-long assist percentage is 11.2 percent.

While Lee had a standout individual month, the Celtics as a team were minus-1.4 in plus/minus per 48 minutes with him on the floor, though Lee registering a woeful minus-13 in the Celtics' ugly 71-69 win over the Chicago Bulls just prior to the All-Star break might have been enough on its own to dip him into the red.

Just prior to the All-Star break, as he was settling into a steady groove, Lee acknowledged that the Celtics' emphasis on team-wide ball movement in the wake of losing Rondo was better suited for his individual skillet. He continued to deliver on that claim after the break, as he forged together a very solid month of basketball that Boston is hoping will spell good things for Lee as the playoffs continue to draw closer.

As much as Celtics guard Courtney Lee was looking forward to some of the typical amenities associated with the NBA's annual All-Star break -- rest and relaxation, a warm destination, time with family -- his role in the second half of Boston's season wasn't far from his mind.

Lee's not blind to the struggles he endured during the first part of the season. He had a rough shooting month in November (converting just 18.2 percent of his looks from the 3-point line), was relegated to a bench role, and continued to have a difficult time carving out a niche in an offense built around Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett.

It was all an adjustment for Lee after he held more substantial roles on some of his former teams that also incorporated offensive systems that stressed team-wide ball movement. But he pressed on and, as he eventually settled into a reserve role, he saw his shooting numbers rise and took on more responsibility on the defensive end of the floor.

But then Rondo went down for the season with a torn right ACL and Lee found himself -- along with the entire team -- back in the adjustment phase. But Lee was better prepared for this one. The spread offense the Celtics have incorporated since losing Rondo is more in line with the systems some of Lee's past teams used to run and the familiarity has helped to motivate him to put the first half of the 2012-2013 campaign in the rear view mirror and hone in on what he can do to help keep the C's competitive moving forward.

"I don't care about how the first half of the season went," Lee said prior to last Wednesday's win over the Bulls. "That's over with. All we care about is now. We've got people who went down, so everybody in this locker room has to come together and just be better going forward. So now the halfway mark's over with, we've just got to come out with a fast start in the second half. So, that's all that matters -- thinking about what we're going to do and how we're going to do it."

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BOSTON -- Despite feeling a bit under the weather in recent days, Courtney Lee turned in 17 inspired minutes during Monday night's win over the Bobcats and produced the hustle play of the night in the fourth quarter when he won a track meet down the floor and blocked Hakim Warrick as he went up for a layup.

Lee finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with the block and a steal.

"It was a big man running down the middle and I know that my feet are a lot faster than his, no offense to him," said Lee. "You don't want to give up on a play, especially a play that you can get back in. So I just play hard the whole time."

When asked where that hustling nature comes from, Lee got a bit heavy with reporters.

"Oh, man, if you really want to get deep to it -- I want you all to hear this, man: You can take it back to just life period," said Lee. "I mean, I didn't have the best childhood, but you continue to fight and I use that same philosophy on the court. Something might not be going right, but you can always give effort. Effort takes no talent."

After struggling to carve out his role at the start of the season, Lee is settling into a nice groove. In seven games this month, Lee is averaging 8.1 points per game on 59 percent shooting overall, which includes shooting 45.5 percent beyond the 3-point arc.

* COLLINS' BIG IMPACT: Even as Chris Wilcox (thumb) nears a return, veteran big man Jason Collins has contributed some solid minutes lately. With rookie big man Jared Sullinger in early foul trouble on Monday, Collins played eight minutes and chipped in three points, four rebounds, and two assists.

"He does it every night," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "He’s Groundhog's Day if there was ever one. He just comes in, he does the same thing: Blocks shots, takes a charge, gets his body in the way. He’s going to bang, he’s prepared; He’s such a pro. It’s just good to have him around."

* WILCOX BACK ON BENCH: Wilcox, sidelined since mid-December with a thumb issue, dressed for Monday's game and was on the active roster, but knew he wasn't going to get in the game (and even resisted the urge to make himself available when Sullinger got early foul trouble). Wilcox said he still wants to get in another practice or two before a potential return to game action. And while it was good to be back on the bench with his teammates, Wilcox admitted it only made him a bit more antsy to get back on the floor. Wilcox was averaging 5.1 points per game in December while shooting a healthy 73.1 percent from the floor before his injury.

* BULLPEN BARBOSA: Rivers elected to go with backup guard Leandro Barbosa over Jason Terry for a late fourth-quarter stretch on Monday. Boston's coach admitted it was simply a gut feeling. "Just a feel, honestly," said Rivers. "I thought we needed energy. And [Barbosa is] always ready. He is terrific. He’s always ready.” Rivers clearly enjoys the luxury of having established veterans like Barbosa and Collins able to contribute in short minutes without worrying about their roles.

BOSTON -- In practice, Kevin Garnett calls them "The Pitbulls." To the media, he refers to their presence together as "Helter Skelter."

But no matter what description Garnett bestows on the duo of Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee, the message is clear: Their defensive intensity -- on-ball pressure in particular -- has emerged as one of the most potent factors in Boston's recent resurgence, evidenced by a current five-game win streak.

Bradley's return from offseason shoulder surgeries was always expected to give the C's a shot in the arm, but little did anyone know that he and Lee would emerge as such a considerable 1-2 punch of defensive vigor.

The two have rarely been paired together in the six games since Bradley returned -- sharing the court for a mere seven minutes -- but the two operate as defensive baton-passers of sort. Their responsibilities are often the same: Check the opponent's best perimeter player. Bradley might get the initial assignment, but Lee is more than happy to pick up wherever he leaves off.

"I call them 'Helter Skelter,'" Garnett said before Friday's 103-91 victory over the Rockets. "They've definitely given us a different light in the sense of where we've been able to push up and pressure on. Avery's been like a hope of life, if not a beam of light, lately, and an inspiration to all of us, and we're just feeding off of that. But they give us a different dynamic from a defending standpoint. Offensively, you know what you're going to get from both guys. They're one-on-one players, they can put the ball in the basket, and they're both competitors. But from a defensive standpoint, we follow that lead."

Lee was later informed of Garnett's glowing praise.

"We just take it as a compliment," he said. "It started with that New York game, because that was pretty much the first time me and Avery got a chance to play extended minutes together. The thing we were trying to do is pressure the ball and make them run the offense with like 16 or less on the clock and we were able to do that."

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