WALTHAM - The revolving door to the Celtics [team stats] sick bay remains in full swing.
On a day when Paul Pierce [stats] and Rajon Rondo [stats] returned to the practice floor - both with the goal of playing tonight against the Heat in Miami - Kendrick Perkins [stats] and Eddie House didn’t even show up.
Both flu-ridden teammates remained in their respective beds.
Perkins later was on time for the team flight to Miami. House, according to coach Doc Rivers an almost certain scratch for tonight’s game, stayed home.
“They’re both home in bed,” said Rivers, who returned to the team yesterday after leaving to tend to a family matter on Monday. “Right now Perk will be able to get on the flight, and it doesn’t look like Eddie will make the trip.
“This year especially the league has impressed upon us that if a guy has a fever, he has to stay away from the team because he’s contagious at that point. Perk’s feeling better. It started yesterday after practice. They weren’t sure if his was food poisoning or the flu, though with Eddie no doubt it’s the flu.”
And so the circus, as Rivers called it, continues.
“It was tough if we would have been healthy,” Rivers said of the recent 2-3 stretch, which coincided with Pierce’s departure from the lineup. “We looked at this stretch of games and we were concerned, but that’s when I thought we would have all our players with us. Obviously no one thought that this would happen. We just have to wade our way through it somehow.
“It’s a tough three-game stretch coming up with guys coming back and guys going out. It happens, and we have to work our way through.”
One constant will be the continued absence of Kevin Garnett, who will miss at least another week with a hyperextended knee.
“He may make the trip, but he’s not going to play,” Rivers said. “He’s definitely not going to play.”
Ugly stuff
Yesterday’s practice was predictably uneven.
“It was sloppy,” Rivers said. “Just that we were trying to play Paul at times and take him out, and then Rondo played three sets and we took him out. Put Tony (Allen) at the point and then you move him back to the 2. It wasn’t sloppy because they didn’t try. You just knew that would happen because of all the changes.”
Wade Heats up
The Celtics are about to face Dwyane Wade at his hottest. Miami’s star guard had 28 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a win against Atlanta on Monday.
“I’ve always found it very difficult to stop guys from Marquette,” said Rivers, a fellow Marquette alum. “Smart, high IQ players. But Wade is tough.
“He’s added low-elbow jump shots, the bank shots. He’s added so much to his game since he got into the league.” . . .
Though many expect Ray Allen or even House to receive an invitation to the 3-point shooting contest on All-Star weekend, Pierce wondered, “I want to nominate myself. I think I’m shooting a good percentage from 3. But between those two, well, they’re right up under me.”
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