Piecing together a McCarty deal?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Danny Ainge doesn't think the Celtics' chemistry is very good, although he thinks it's better now than it was a month ago. But it's not just a matter of players getting along ("It's so much more than just the personality of the locker room") and he sees it as something that he alone cannot and should not fix.

"I don't think we know each other's games as well as we should," the Celtics executive director of basketball operations said before last night's victory over the Bobcats. "I'm not sure we have players who complement one another the way they should."

Isn't that his job, to make sure the team has the right mix?

"I think it's all people's jobs," he said. "It's the players' jobs to fit. When I came to the Celtics, I didn't get to play how I wanted to play. I had to make sacrifices as a player to find minutes.

"It's up to each player to find his niche and value. It's up to the coaches to get players to play together and to find the combinations that are best. And it's my job to help the coach and the players make that transition easier by finding the right pieces."

Toward that end, a league source indicated yesterday that the Celtics and Phoenix Suns have talked regarding a deal for Walter McCarty. After the game, McCarty confirmed that such talk was, indeed, under way and that he had been the instigator.

"I initiated it," he said. "I hear it's close. We'll see."

Asked if he would like Phoenix, McCarty said, "Sounds good to me." This was after he recorded a DNP-CD.

Ainge would not comment on a possible deal, which would have the Celtics sending McCarty to the Suns for a second-round pick. The Suns have a trade exception that would absorb McCarty's contract, which is around $1.34 million. He also has a year after this (his option) for around $1.475 million.

The trade would help the Suns, who need to beef up their bench, while it would give the Celtics one less body and save them more than $2 million.

Being outpaced
The Indiana Pacers are in town tonight for the last of their three meetings with the Celtics. Stephen Jackson will play for the first time since Nov. 19, when he went into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills and was whacked with a 30-game suspension. Indiana is the only team to have beaten the Celtics by 10 or more points in the Celtics' last 26 home games, during which Boston is 18-8. Since February 2004, and including last year's playoffs, the Celtics are 21-15 at the FleetCenter. Only three of those losses were by 10 or more points -- and all of them were against the Pacers (two were in the playoffs.) Indiana beat the Celtics, 100-94, in its first visit to Boston this season . . . Al Jefferson was limping after the game, and Doc Rivers said he believed his prize rookie had a right hip pointer . . . Delonte West also did not play. Marcus Banks played the 11 minutes that Gary Payton rested. Jiri Welsch also played only 11 minutes. Tony Allen started, but wasn't the factor he was in Atlanta. In 20 minutes, Allen had 7 points . . . Emeka Okafor (20 points, 12 rebounds) had his 27th double-double of the season. He broke a tie with Shaquille O'Neal for the league lead. Last night was the 11th time he had 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds. And his 20 points all came after an 0-for-6 first half.

Blount assessment
Rivers on Mark Blount's continuing struggles (although Blount was better last night): "I think it's more mental. New system. New deal. Confidence. And people forget he's still young. He really hasn't played much until last year." For those of you who may be lusting to unload Blount, be advised that he (a) is a base-year compensation player, which makes him very, very difficult to deal and (b) has a 15 percent trade kicker in his contract . . . Former University of North Carolina coach and Kansas assistant Matt Doherty was in the house in his latest incarnation as a scout for the Knicks . . . Celtics broadcaster Cedric Maxwell interrupted Bobcat coch Bernie Bickerstaff's pregame briefing to ask him why he could never stop the Glory Days Celtics even though he knew what play they were going to run. He knew because Maxwell would tell him. "That's true," Bickerstaff said. "But what are you going to do with Parish, Maxwell, Bird and McHale? We won 60 games in Washington one year and ran about three plays. It's all about having someome capable of finishing."