Centers of attention

When Michael Olowokandi and Mark Blount found time to talk last night at the TD Banknorth Garden, they were not short of subject matter. The role of a 7-footer on the Celtics versus the role of a 7-footer on the Timberwolves. Playing with an All-Star like Paul Pierce versus playing with an All-Star like Kevin Garnett. Real estate in Boston versus real estate in Minneapolis.

''If you see our lips moving more than usual, then you know what it's about," said Olowokandi before the Celtics' 103-96 victory.

By now, everyone knows that Boston is trying to trade Blount, with Minnesota the most likely suitor. Blount would switch places with Olowokandi, the first overall pick in the 1998 draft. Before the game, Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said there was ''nothing to report" with regard to a possible trade and that he did not expect anything to happen over the next couple days.

Meanwhile, Olowokandi, like Blount, sounded very much like a player prepared to move on.

''You have to be [prepared], whenever that materializes," said Olowokandi, who learned from his agent after Minnesota played New York Monday that something might happen. ''Then, you adapt to it, be it a townhouse, a million-dollar home, or a hotel."

When asked if he thought about the possibility of coming to Boston, Olowokandi added, ''I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it. Obviously, with what's happened the past 72 hours, you think about it all the time . . . There's always something a big man can do. I know [the Celtics] have two or three very big scorers on the outside. But whatever the case might be, there's always going to be something for a guy who is tall and relatively athletic. I'll speak to Mark first and get a heads up."

Olowokandi, in the last year of his contract, knows his name will be thrown around a lot before the Feb. 23 trading deadline. The 30-year-old center, however, would prefer to be traded as soon as possible. ''I definitely don't take it personally," said Olowokandi, who scored 5 points and had 9 rebounds in 28 minutes last night. ''I felt like I had a decent start to the season with the team. Then, I had a lesser role . . . For now, I'm going to sit back and see what happens. Minnesota has always been a good place for me. The team situation is a little different from what I expected myself."

Blount barely got off the bench last night, registering 2 points and a rebound in just over five minutes.

West banged up
Delonte West careened into a cameraman along the baseline after missing a driving layup with a little more than four minutes left in the first quarter. West hit his left eye against the lens, suffering a cut on his cheekbone. He left the game and sat on the bench as trainer Ed Lacerte and team doctor Brian McKeon checked his jaw and left eye socket. West returned to the floor with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter. ''I was just shaken up a little bit," said West, who spent a couple minutes sitting on the floor as the Garden crowd held its breath . . . The Celtics' franchise low for turnovers in a regular-season game is four, accomplished at Golden State Feb. 18, 2003, and against Phoenix April 2, 1993 . . . The team announced that New Bedford native Joe Lacob, a senior partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers venture fund, has joined the Celtics' ownership group. Lacob is a longtime friend of owner Irv Grousbeck. Lacob will also be joining the Celtics' board of directors . . . At halftime, the Celtics and Southwest Airlines honored Arnold Scheller, who served as team doctor for 18 seasons . . . A pretrial hearing in the Tony Allen case was continued until today. Allen's attorney, Michael Zaslavsky, expects to file a formal motion for discovery today.

Looking ahead
Having just returned from a two-day stay in suburban Detroit, Pierce has his sights set on the seventh seed in the East and a likely matchup with Miami. Barring a collapse by the Pistons, the No. 8 seed would send the Celtics to the Palace of Auburn Hills. ''Maybe it would be better getting the seventh spot," said Pierce. ''At least we would get to go to Miami. That sounds a lot better. Got to chase that seventh. You get four days in Miami. Not bad." . . . Pierce and Garnett go way back. All the way to high school, when Garnett stayed at Pierce's home in Inglewood, Calif., before they played on the same AAU team at a tournament in Las Vegas. ''He was a 7-foot guy who could shoot, block shots. He was the most intimidating player that I had seen up until today when I was in high school," Pierce said.