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Rivers was asked if his players knew the historical impact and the story behind Robinson’s MLB debut and breaking the color barrier. “Yeah, I think a lot of players know the history,” Rivers said. “Some may not have, I don’t know that. But I always go by — I thought guys were at their full attention throughout the movie, and engaged, which I thought was really cool.” WEEI.com

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers 

The Celtics lost their seventh game in the last nine last night, but there was a bright spot in the 110-100 defeat to the Timberwolves. Avery Bradley broke out of his offensive funk with 19 points, the total he had in the last four games combined. The third-year guard shot 28.9 percent from the floor in the 10 games prior, but he drilled a 19-footer to begin this one and finished 8-for-14. “He needed it,” said C’s coach Doc Rivers. “It was good. I think five games in a row we’ve run the first play of the game for him, and finally he came up with a jumper. I just really believe he needed it to go in. I told him after the game the arc was back on his shot; it wasn’t flat, so that was good to see. I think that’ll make him a better defender, too. He’ll be able to relax.” Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

Said Bradley, “I haven’t been playing as well as I wanted to. Tonight it was good to see some shots go in. It was just confidence. It’s always good to see them go in. When you’re not making shots and you’re not able to help your team, it’s hard. It was hard for me, because I didn’t feel like I was performing well for my teammates. I’m just going to continue to play hard, if I’m making shots or not. That’s all I can do.” Boston Herald

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

Baxter Holmes: Doc to us reporters after the game -- "I really like you guys…April Fools!" Twitter @BaxterHolmes

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Media 

The Heat sat LeBron James, Dywane Wade, and Mario Chalmers against the Spurs, indicating that each had injuries such as a hamstring strain and a sprained ankle. The move caused a stir because Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had sent forward Tim Duncan, guard Manu Ginobili, and guard Tony Parker home before playing the Heat Nov. 19. The NBA fined the Spurs $250,000 for sitting those players out. “I’ve got a feeling it will come up, probably loudly,” Rivers said. “But I don’t know what you’re supposed to do about it as a coach. “It’s a tough one, honestly. From the fans’ standpoint, they pay to see the players play and I get that. From the league’s standpoint, they want to protect that. From a coaching standpoint, you want to do what’s best for your team. It’s a tough one.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Doc Rivers 

Is Miami on the Celtics’ playoff radar? Rivers maintained that he doesn’t think about the Heat much, but he said, “I think Danny [Ainge] does, a little bit.” Of course, Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, was involved in a heated back-and-forth with Heat president Pat Riley last week, one in which Riley issued a statement saying that Ainge should “shut the [expletive] up and manage his own team.” A reporter told Rivers that Riley doesn’t make too many public statements like that. “[Ainge] drew him out,” Rivers said, laughing. “I’m very proud of that one. He threw a smoke bomb.” Rivers added of Riley, “He doesn’t come out much, but Danny will bring that out in you if you’ve been around Danny long enough.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Doc Rivers 

Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted the team inquired when Martin was a free agent but passed. “It’s their fault, they lost,’’ Martin said. “There were talks, negotiations. They chose not to do it. It was out of my control. I’m a Knick now, so they lost.’’ New York Post

Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Free Agency, Doc Rivers, Kenyon Martin 

Bradley submitted another poor shooting effort in Tuesday night’s 100-85 loss to the Knicks, making just 3-of-11 attempts and dropping his field goal percentage to only 30.5 percent over his last eight games. In that same stretch, a 2-6 run for the Celtics, he has committed as many turnovers as he has collected assists (14). “He’s struggling,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, whose team has lost five straight games. “Listen, Avery’s trying his best. His shot is struggling right now. He can shoot the ball, but when you’re thinking about it, he’s clearly going through something. And so we’re going to have to to try to get him through that. “Especially now with all the guys out, we’re going to need him to be effective. I’m probably going to have to do something to try to get him going more, not less. But I feel for him, because he wants to play hard, he wants to play right, but you can see it. So, we’ll get him going.” WEEI.com

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

Paul Flannery: Doc on Crawford: "He's on the all scare team. He scares me and Woody. He scares both coaches." Twitter

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley 

Boston’s Kevin Garnett is expected to miss at least a week with inflammation in his left ankle as the Celtics practice patience with their 36-year-old star. Coach Doc Rivers, preparing his team for a playoff run, said on Monday he doesn’t think Garnett will be out for the long term. ‘‘I don’t know what long term is,’’ Rivers said before practice. ‘‘If you mean that he’s not going to play this year, no, I don’t worry about that. But can he miss four or five games? Yeah, that’s possible.’’ Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Injuries, Kevin Garnett 

Out of the traditional boredom of the NBA's month of March, there comes the drama of this chase for one of the most spectacular streaks in sports history. For so long, everyone wondered: How do you beat James and Miami four times in a playoff series? Now, everyone's reduced to asking: How do you beat them once? "What they're doing is remarkable, because they're getting the best every night, from everybody," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told Yahoo! Sports. "They trust now. You don't want to get into a one-point game with them, because they have the ultimate trust in each other." Yahoo! Sports

Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Doc Rivers 

Evans Clinchy: "That was absolutely a goaltend, the Jeff drive. That absolutely has to be called." -Doc Rivers Twitter @evansclinchy

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers 

The two players expected to lead the Celtics Saturday night in their revenge match are Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who have been the talk of the town this week after both reached scoring milestones on Wednesday and Garnett explained afterward how close the two were growing up. Why is this story so special? “That’s only because they’re old as hell,” Rivers answered with hearty laugh. “The only way you can reach those milestones together is you have to hang around a lonnnnng time. It is cool. I was joking but it does seem like every night one of those two does pass some kind of record. I think now we create some sort of new record to pass but it is awesome. They have that picture together, it’s a neat picture when they were 15.” WEEI.com

Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett 

Rivers has taken to comparing Bradley to the likes of Scottie Pippen, Derek Harper, and Alvin Robertson, with Michael Jordan's former running mate his favorite parallel. "It's like Scottie Pippen -- when you played the Bulls, you were praying that, 'I hope he guards the other guy tonight,' " explained Rivers. "Because [Pippen] was one of those guys that could guard the 1, 2, or 3. And you were hoping, 'OK, I hope [he guards the other guy].' I mean, how rare is it that you want Michael to guard you? Over Scottie. "And I'm thinking that's Avery, and even Courtney [Lee]. Courtney's a good defender as well, but they're probably thinking, 'I'll take him over him.' And [Bradley's] feet are so good. I mean, he stays in front of the ball, he gets up into it, and it's big for us. He's really making us a better defensive team." ESPN.com

Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Doc Rivers, Avery Bradley, Scottie Pippen 

Midway through the disaster that was a 100-74 no-show loss to the Bobcats in North Carolina, Rivers was thinking he didn’t go far enough. Kevin Garnett played 20 minutes, but struggled badly again, going 2-for-10 from the field. “Yeah, definitely, otherwise he’d been part of that,” Rivers said when asked if he thought he did the right thing in giving Pierce the night off. “What I was thinking was I wish I had given Kevin the night off, too, in the middle of the game. That would’ve been terrific because then we could’ve had two guys that got some rest.” As for Garnett, who is 8-for-29 in losses to the Thunder and Bobcats, Rivers says it’s a matter of getting him better looks. “We’ve got to get him a better rhythm,” said Rivers, who refuted speculation that Garnett was tired or injured. “He’s been in a [bad] way now for a while now and that’s more on us. We have to get him the right shots and we’re not do a very good job of that.” WEEI.com

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett 

Before the game, Rivers said he didn’t like the look of his team. Something seemed off. His suspicions were confirmed fast, as the aggressors were clearly the Bobcats. “I thought we were really cool tonight,” Rivers said, “and they were really hard.” However, Rivers didn’t go overkill on his team’s awful performance. “It’s one game. I’m not going to overdo it,” he said. “Listen, we were awful tonight. Our spirit was awful. The way we played was awful. But we’ve also got to look at our team as a whole. We haven’t had a lot of nights like that. I’m not happy with the way the game went, but overall, I like our team.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers 

The need to declare that the Celtics were Rondo's team was a curious phenomenon from the start. It was hard to imagine that future Hall of Famers Pierce and Garnett ever completely bought into that, although they were happy to play along for public consumption. "I don't know if they did or not," said Rivers, "but all I know is those two guys are talking more. When Rondo comes back, Paul and Kevin need to continue to lead the way they are now. Because, honestly, I don't buy into the 'Whose team is it?' I think that's the silliest damn stuff. I don't care whose team it is. Just go play together." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett 

Doug Collins is endorsing Spurs coach Gregg Popovich or Celtics coach Doc Rivers to be Team USA coach. “My feeling is the two guys who should be in the mix are Pop and Doc,’’ Collins said. “I think those two guys, what they’ve done. Pop, the years he’s put in, what he’s done and plus he has a military background a lot like Coach K, and what he’s done in San Antonio. And then I think Doc. “Those two guys are the cream of the crop. They’ve won championships.'' Sulia

Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers, Coaching, Gregg Popovich, USA Basketball, Team USA, Doug Collins 

“My feeling is the two guys who should be in the mix are Pop and Doc,’’ said Collins, whose 76ers play at Orlando on Sunday. “I think those two guys, what they’ve done. Pop, the years he’s put in, what he’s done and plus he has a military background a lot like Coach K, and what he’s done in San Antonio. And then I think Doc.’’ FOXSports Florida

Philadelphia 76ers, Doc Rivers, Coaching, Gregg Popovich, USA Basketball, Doug Collins 

But head coach Doc Rivers stressed patience with Crawford, providing encouragement for the 24-year-old guard as he continues to adjust to his new Boston surroundings. "That’s fine by me," Rivers said of Crawford looking for his shot. "I want him to be aggressive. Again, I think Jordan, [observers are] looking for him to make a bad offensive play. Paul [Pierce] made one; Kevin [Garnett] made one. Offensive players are going to make a couple bad offensive plays. I thought he made far more good ones than that. I want him to stay aggressive. I thought that [first-quarter drive] could have been a foul, he just went into the trees and couldn’t get out. I don’t want to take away what he can do, that’s very important." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Jordan Crawford