Liar Liar

I'm a little confused.  I could have sworn that this:

Doc in pregame: "Tony's playing tonight. He's running, he just needs games under his belt. That's what we'll give him."

Would mean we wouldn't have seen this:

Yeah, I'm happy that we won last night.  It was exciting and I enjoyed it.

But it didn't mean a damn thing.  What's the big deal, we're now alone as the second seed?  Who cares?  There is almost no difference between the #2 and #3 seed.  It doesn't matter if we play the Sixers or Bulls.  It doesn't matter if we have home court against Orlando.  And it doesn't matter when it comes to home court after the second round.

I like Doc Rivers.  I might have been his biggest defender in the "Fire Doc" days… and I think he's the perfect kind of coach for a veteran team like this.  But I can't get past him saying one thing about how he's going to play players, and then doing another.  First, it was how he's going to limit Ray and Paul's minutes.  That never happened.  Now it's how Tony Allen needs game reps, and that didn't happen.

He was clear:  Tony Allen needs to get ready for the playoffs.  Doc has said that the rest of this regular season is about getting healthy and ready for the playoffs.  He had a chance last night to get Tony some time so he can start getting ready for the playoffs, and he didn't do it.  I'm not even saying Tony should have gotten overtime minutes.  They could  have come in the first and second half.  It could have been 10-15 minutes or so, just to get him back into it.  Something.

Couldn't the Celtics have won even while giving Tony some minutes?  Didn't the rest of the team suck for 3 and half quarters… would it have been worse with Tony in there?  Don't we need Tony's defense against a young, athletic team like Charlotte?

If Doc never said anything so definitive about Tony Allen playing, this wouldn't be an issue.  It's like Doc agrees with what I'm saying… until the game begins and he gets too wrapped up in things to give Paul or Ray an extra 2 or 3 minutes on the bench so Tony can get in.  He needs to get past that for the next couple of weeks so the team can be ready for the playoffs.

For those of you came here this morning to bask in the glow of a double overtime thriller… we'll end this on a high note.

Herald:  Overtime pays off big for late starting Celtics |  Big shot Ray Allen follows through with heroics |  Doc has faith in defense minus KG |  Globe:  Three, Cheers |  It bears repeating, health key |  Rivers expect KG back for playoffs |  Playoff seeding not a primary concern |  Camerato:  Powe limited in workouts |  Souza:  Ray shines |  LA Times:  Rest Kobe, or not?