In the end, medical staff was hip to West's pain

ATLANTA -- Delonte West did not play last night against the Hawks because of a left hip pointer he suffered in the third quarter against Cleveland Tuesday night. But the injury-prone point guard and coach Doc Rivers figure West will be back on the court tomorrow when the Celtics face the Charlotte Bobcats at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Celtics are relieved the injury won't sideline West for two or more weeks, as initially feared.

Rookie Orien Greene started in place of West last night. When asked why he made that choice, Rivers joked, ''Because I couldn't find a uniform." But seriously, Rivers prefers Dan Dickau to come off the bench. West is listed as day to day and actually attempted to warm up with the team last night, much to the dismay of Rivers and the Celtics' medical staff. When West arrived at Philips Arena last night, he saw his uniform hanging in his locker. He dressed and walked to the floor. Depending on your perspective, that makes West either hypercompetitive or crazy, considering his hip was still painful to the touch. West reported he felt fine shooting the ball. Lateral movement proved nearly impossible. But the guard had little time to test the hip before Rivers pulled him off the floor.

''He went out on the floor, but he shouldn't have been out there," said Rivers. ''I had to go out there and grab him. He didn't want to listen to his trainer [Ed Lacerte]. He didn't realize that he was on painkillers and that was why he was actually moving, not that he felt better. Eddie told him not to put his stuff on and, of course, he put his stuff on. I told him, 'You're just going to hurt yourself.' "

While Rivers appreciates West's desire to compete, he doesn't want him risking further injury, especially given his medical history. West played only 39 games last season as a rookie, after fracturing his right hand and right thumb in succession. Although it took time for West to come to terms with reality, he eventually acknowledged it was better to rest for the Atlanta game.

''Playing the way I like to play basketball with my intensity, I wouldn't be able to give that to them today," said West. ''I'm looking forward to playing [tomorrow]."

Quite touching

Mark Blount remains unhappy about the number of touches he gets during the course of a game. When asked what he could do with more, Blount said, ''I don't know. Let's see."

Since he came in shooting 54 percent from the floor, Blount believed he should be more of a focal point in the offense. ''Maybe somebody will figure it out, whoever is running the show," said Blount. ''I do what I do whenever I get the ball."

Rivers, meanwhile, didn't want to be dragged into an exchange of words with Blount.

''I don't get into that crap," said Rivers. ''Again, the defensive part and the rebounding part is where Mark has to pick up. I could care less about his touches. But listen, everybody has gripes. I have mine. He has his. Mine will win. That's the way I look at it. The only boiling point it will ever reach is if I think he's not putting out on the [defensive] end because of that [offensive] end."

Blount finished with 6 points and just one rebound in almost 25 minutes last night.

While Rivers didn't mention any names, Rivers said this after the game: ''The next time someone asks for some touches, tell them to get the freakin' ball and rebound."

He's found his place

For a soft-spoken guy, Joe Johnson certainly sparked a lot of controversy during the offseason. It wasn't what Johnson said, but what he wanted to do. Believing the Suns were not as interested as he hoped in re-signing him, Johnson hoped to join the Hawks as part of a sign-and-trade agreement. But Hawks owner Steven Belkin thought two first-round picks and Boris Diaw were too much to give up for Johnson. There was also disagreement within the Atlanta ownership group as to whether Johnson was worth $70 million over five years. As a result, the proposed sign-and-trade precipitated the breakup of the Hawks' ownership group, with Belkin leaving. In the end, Johnson got what he wanted -- a move to Atlanta -- and has no regrets.

''I've been enjoying myself," said Johnson, who came into the game leading Atlanta with 18.7 points per game, and finished with 13. ''It's just a process right now that we're going through. You've got to have a few bad steppingstones in order for things to get good.

''Atlanta is a great city and I don't know why no one wants to come here and play. I want to start something. They signed me and now guys will see that they've got some quality players who want to come play here. Hopefully, it will be a chain reaction and we'll get some more guys in here."

Run of bad luck

Rookie Gerald Green would have been activated last night if he hadn't pulled his groin warming up before the Cleveland game. Green was attempting a dunk when he suffered the injury, which could keep him sidelined for two to three weeks . . . And in another case of poor timing, Dickau was disappointed he couldn't watch his alma mater, Gonzaga, defeat Michigan State in three overtimes in the Maui Invitational semifinals. The Celtics' bus headed for the airport in Cleveland just before the third OT finished. ''I was frustrated because I was getting that game taped by the Cleveland video coordinator and they couldn't stop the tape because when our bus left there was one minute left in the [third overtime]," said Dickau.