Your Morning Dump… Marquis Daniels has a pulse

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Serious box-score readers may do a double-take when they see that Marquis Daniels played 20 minutes, most of them meaningful. That has happened since … who knows when? Okay, since Jan. 23. Basically, he had been a fixture on the bench since the arrival of Mickael Pietrus. But he was on the floor when the Celtics made their run and not only finished with 8 points, but also was the only Celtic who had a plus-minus better than plus-1. He was plus-8.

"He played great for us," Rivers said of Daniels, adding he went with Daniels out of a "gut" decision.

ESPN Boston

Glad to see Marquis Daniels is capable of making a contribution to this team. He's stayed healthy this year, mostly because he's never on the court.

Quis was in Doc's circle of trust for the first month and a half of the season, but he was not producing (31% FG). Once Mickael Pietrus emerged, Daniels faded away on the bench. 

No dispect to Marquis, but I hope he steers clear of Boston next season. He'll occasionally flash enough skill to make you think he can be a capable bench player, but something always gets in the way.

On Page 2, Danny Ainge dismisses the Jermaine O'Neal buyout reports.

“Not yet,” Ainge said yesterday when asked if O’Neal’s situation was any more defined. “Jermaine is weighing things and just seeing how his wrist responds to the treatment that he’s been getting and seeing if he wants to continue playing or not play. So he and Dr. McKeon are sort of evaluating that process now.”

But the Celts president noted again that he knows of no scenario in which O’Neal, 33, will seek to be bought out so he can play for another club this season.

“I never heard any of that, other than in the media,” Ainge said. “Jermaine and I have talked a few times, and I’ve talked with his agent, and that’s never even come up.”

Herald – Surgery no sure thing

It appears the media reports of Jermaine wanting to play in Miami were wrong. Even with the Celtics in desperate need of big man help, I don't want to see JO on the floor. He's too fragile to be reliable. I'd rather go with a D-leaguer who is willing to bust his ass and won't tweak a hammy doing so. 

The rest of the links:

Globe – Celtics harried by Faried | Garnett becomes center of attention | Sunday notes | CSNNE – Coming up short | What we saw | Herald – Denver boot on Celtics | WEEI – Celtics comeback runs out of gas | Worcester Telegram – Garnett caught in middle

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