Lineup under wraps

WALTHAM -- The Celtics starting lineup for Game 5 has become something of a running joke since few, if any, reporters trust coach Doc Rivers to name the starting five a full day in advance of the next playoff contest. For the record, Rivers said he would start Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Gary Payton, Ricky Davis, and Raef LaFrentz tonight. But it should be noted that in addition to those five, Delonte West was spotted wearing the green jersey at the end of practice yesterday. The first team typically wears green and the reserves white.

When asked for a third time to confirm his starting lineup, in light of the last-minute changes he made before Game 4 Saturday night, Rivers said, "How can I have lost your trust? I've been honest all year. Wow. I didn't literally give you the lineup [Saturday]? Did I?"

Told that he did, with a sheet released showing Kendrick Perkins, not West, a starter, Rivers grinned and continued, "OK, well then I lied. I didn't mean to lie. That's a lie."

But in a sign Rivers may be finished with secrets and gamesmanship, the coach said that the Pacers probably expected the smaller lineup. Rivers chose to credit the Celtics' play for the win, rather than any surprise element.

"I don't think [the small lineup] caught them off guard," said Rivers. "I really don't. I think they were totally prepared for it, to be honest. We'd gone small against them before. I just thought we played well. I don't think it was any surprise thing that we did. I really thought that the bottom line was that our guys played well, and so it worked."

The way Indiana coach Rick Carlisle sees it, his team has problems whether Boston goes big or small.

"My biggest concern is that they've blown us out once playing with their normal lineup and once playing with a smaller lineup," said Carlisle. "We know if we play run, pass, and haul [expletive] against Boston, we're going to lose. We have to play a perfect game at both ends to give ourselves a chance."

Calculated risk
By keeping Davis in the starting lineup, the Celtics' second unit becomes dangerously young. That could be seen as dangerous in a good way with Tony Allen, Al Jefferson, Marcus Banks, Perkins, and West capable of playing with the fearlessness of youth. Or that could be dangerous in a bad way, with the youngsters faltering under playoff pressure. But Rivers believes he has put his young players in the best position to succeed, especially Allen.

"I also thought it allowed Tony Allen to relax and play a little bit," said Rivers. "We went back on all our tapes on when he played well and his best stretches early in the year were when we had four smalls and one big on the floor. It allowed him to just play free and not think and not worry about execution as much. Maybe that was good for him in a way, too."

While Allen did a very good job of guarding Reggie Miller in Game 1, his defensive performance declined in Games 2 and 3. As a result, Rivers turned most of the assignment over to Payton and Davis.

"I just think it's really important to get Tony away from Reggie," said Rivers. "We've got to build his confidence back. That was all my fault at the end of the day. You know it's the tough [matchup]. I didn't see the mental part that it was going to have on Tony. I should have seen that."

Allen, however, denies that Miller got to him.

"He can [get in your head], but he wasn't," said Allen. "Doc did what was best for the team. He did what we needed to win. [But] yeah, it was more relaxing [not to worry about Miller]."

Time for Tinsley?
Speculation continues about whether or not Indiana point guard Jamaal Tinsley will play tonight. While Carlisle said Tinsley had not been "medically cleared," he did practice yesterday and Rivers said he "wouldn't be shocked to see Tinsley play [tonight]."

"It doesn't matter if he plays or he doesn't play," said Pierce. "It really doesn't matter for our game plan at this point. We've just got to go out there and control what we do out there."