Carroll sticks to it

In an effort to figure out what will work best for the rest of the regular season, interim coach John Carroll last night stuck with the starting lineup that produced such a high-scoring start against Milwaukee Wednesday. Jiri Welsch, Brandon Hunter, and newcomer Chucky Atkins have joined mainstays Paul Pierce and Mark Blount.

And it sounds like Carroll will stick with those starters for the foreseeable future.

"I think that Jiri plays well without the basketball," said Carroll. "He doesn't command the basketball. He doesn't demand it. He can play the game. I thought he would be better for us in the starting lineup.

"I thought Ricky [Davis] would be better coming off the bench when Paul's out of the game. And I just had a feeling that we needed to do something. And I thought Brandon was a guy we didn't really know much about, and what was the worst thing that could happen? We could put him in for the first five or six minutes [against the Bucks] and see what happens."

The Celtics lost to the Bucks, 106-104, after posting 40 points in the first quarter and 60 by halftime.

But Carroll doesn't see an open invitation to experiment with the lineup and rotation. Despite a losing streak that stood at seven games before the Celtics beat the Raptors, 88-75, last night at the FleetCenter, the Celtics are still not out of the running for a playoff spot in the East.

"We need two things," said Carroll. "One, we need to try to win every single game . . . But at the same time, there's a lot of question marks about a lot of guys on our team that we need to find out by the end of the season.

"So, it's a little bit of both, but I would lean more toward we're trying to win games. If we can find things out about guys while we're winning games, that's where I would lean."

Fan of Chucky

When Toronto coach Kevin O'Neill served as an assistant in Detroit, he became a "huge Chucky fan." O'Neill thinks the Celtics have a solid starting point guard.

"The two summers between the summers that I was [in Detroit], I went and saw Chucky in Orlando once a week, spent a couple days with him every week," said O'Neill. "I love his work. I love the kind of guy he is. I actually think he's a better starting point guard than a backup point guard. I always thought that. I thought he played better as a starter. He knows the game. He can make things happen for other people. And he'll make big shots."

Atkins had 9 points and five assists in last night's victory.

Solidarity

No, you weren't seeing triple last night watching referees Monty McCutchen, Tom Washington, and Ed Malloy work the game. All three turned their uniform jerseys inside out and wrote the number "62" on their backs with blue marker. It was a silent show of support for referee No. 62 Michael Henderson, who was suspended three games for an officiating error during the Los Angeles Lakers-Nuggets game Wednesday in Denver. Henderson mistakenly whistled a shot clock violation. The officials huddled and ruled it an inadvertent whistle . . . Carroll had a few words of advice for Hunter on free throw shooting. "He has a decent stroke, but it's not a decent stroke where he can make nine out of 10 in practice," said Carroll. "I think the best thing that he can do the rest of the season is shoot a lot of free throws and get a lot of repetition. I don't think you can change a shot, break a shot down at this point in the season. For him, I think it's just about confidence and repetition. Maybe in the offseason, if he needs to tinker with his shot a little bit and try to adjust, he can do that. The best thing he can do right now is rebound, dunk the ball, get fouled, and try to make as many free throws as he can and not think too much about too many things." . . . Boston mayor Tom Menino recognized Walter McCarty Thursday for his work in the community, presenting the forward with an African-American Achievement Award during the 10th annual Black History Month awards event.