Rest best for West

WASHINGTON -- Prior to last night's 116-115 overtime victory over the Wizards, Delonte West was dutifully filling ticket requests. West, who played high school basketball in nearby Greenbelt, Md., estimated he had nearly 30 friends and family members to account for, which was good news for the Wizards' ticket folks.

''My mom has 10 brothers and sisters and my dad has six," West said. ''That's a lot of family."

But even with the number of requests and West's determination, his injured right groin proved too painful, and he stayed in the locker room for the third meeting of the season between Washington and Boston. He also will miss tonight's game against the 76ers in Boston and possibly Friday's game against the Bucks.

''Hopefully, Sunday I'll be back," said West, who hurt himself last Sunday against Toronto. ''I didn't think at first that it was going to be this long. We're in the middle of a playoff race and I feel bad because I'm letting my team down."

West, who rested the groin Monday, said he will get examined today in Boston.

''Right now, it feels like the best thing I should do is rest, just stay off of it," he said. ''It hurts. It limits your movement. I'm a lefthanded player and I make all my moves off my right leg. Right now, I can't even use [the leg]. It's tough."

With West hors de combat, coach Doc Rivers went with Orien Greene at the point.

''We have no choice," said Rivers, who added that the team might consider bringing in an emergency replacement if West's injury lingers.

Last night was the fourth game West has missed, and first since Dec. 19, when he sat out a home game against the Warriors with a concussion. He also missed the two games that sandwiched Thanksgiving because of a bruised left hip. The Celtics are 3-1 in the games West has missed, three of which Greene started. Marcus Banks started the other.

A trip to the nation's capital invariably means a visit to the godfather himself, Red Auerbach, who lives in the city. Several members of the Celtics' traveling party stopped by Monday to visit with Auerbach, who is still recuperating from surgery last fall. Yesterday, over the phone, Auerbach said he was feeling all right but was not going to be at the game. He is quite excited, however, about the play of the George Washington men's team, ranked No. 6 in the country. Auerbach has bachelor's and master's degrees from GW and played three years of basketball there. ''I don't know how far they'll go in the tournament," he said, ''but they've got a good bunch of kids." . . . Last night was Jarvis Hayes bobblehead night. Hayes hasn't played since December and likely is out for the season with a knee injury. ''We made sure we also gave out Band-Aids to put on the leg," quipped Wizards president Susan O'Malley.

The Celtics' lack of a point guard was telling in the first quarter. Greene picked up two quick fouls and had to take a seat. The backup was Tony Allen, who had four of the team's 10 first-quarter turnovers, two of which were dribbling violations. Allen ended up playing 28 minutes, his third-highest total of the season . . . Gerald Green was the second Celtic off the bench. He played seven first-half minutes, picked up three fouls, and had two turnovers, one of them a debatable offensive goaltending violation . . . Gilbert Arenas's 39 points marked the 29th time this season he has scored 30 or more. Pierce, meanwhile, had 31, and has scored 30 or more in 12 of his last 13 games, a team first . . . The Wizards were without starting guard-forward Jared Jeffries, who has a strained left calf.