Scalabrine a pleasant surprise

CHICAGO -- When Doc Rivers recently praised Brian Scalabrine for his "phenomenal" overall play, it seemed like the Celtics were living in an alternate NBA universe, a through-the-looking-glass realm.

Could Rivers be talking about the same Scalabrine who struggled to earn playing time and the confidence of the coaching staff last season? As surprising as it may seem for those who booed Scalabrine last season and earlier this season, the answer is yes.

With Rivers looking for players who take pride in defense, who play every possession hard, who bring toughness and energy to the floor, Scalabrine's stock has risen in the eyes of his coaching staff and teammates. The reserve forward has emerged as an unlikely role model. Against the Toronto Raptors, Rivers cited Scalabrine as the only Celtic who could guard All-Star Chris Bosh. Scalabrine played so well at Air Canada Centre that Rivers did not want to take him out.

"Scal is really important for us because we don't have a lot of veterans who can think the game and talk," said Rivers. "Scal has an extremely high basketball IQ. He had it last year, too. That hasn't changed. It may have gotten him in trouble last year. He was trying to do too much. He was trying to do things he did in other systems. He tried to do it his way a lot, instead of our way. This year, I thought Scal would be better coming in.

"He's come in and done the stuff we wanted him to do. He's looking better on the floor. He's fitting in. He plays hard every night. Even if Scal is not playing great defense, he's playing hard defense. A lot of times you're going to get fooled, you're going to get beat, but if you play hard enough, something good happens."

By keeping the game simple, Scalabrine has seen an increase in playing time. After working his way into the rotation after suffering a left shoulder injury in preseason, he has averaged 13.4 minutes per game in the last seven games. He is shooting 45 percent from the floor, by far a career best if he can sustain it throughout the season. Against Toronto, Scalabrine went 2 for 2 with a 3-pointer.

Just as important to Rivers are the forward's competitiveness and savvy. With five years of NBA experience, Scalabrine was able to think his way through issues that kept him off the court last season.

"The difference is that sometimes when something doesn't make sense to a player and a coach tells you to do it, they have a bigger master plan for a game plan," said Scalabrine. "I'm ultra-competitive and I was doing stuff that I thought would help us win [last year], but if I'm on my own page and the rest of the team is on its own page, it doesn't help. Doing what they ask me to do, and doing it with the same conviction as playing the other way, is the best way to earn you minutes.

"Maybe it's not a good thing for me to put the ball on the floor when we have other guys out there that do that. Maybe it's better for me to space the floor out. For them to say that to me, it means our overall game plan is for that to happen. I'm committing to what we have to do to win. I try to be solid on the game plan and give 100 percent effort. Things like that help me get minutes out there."

Paul Pierce (bruised right elbow) will play tonight against the Bulls, Wally Szczerbiak (sprained left ankle) will not, and Kendrick Perkins (plantar fasciitis, left foot) is "50-50." After practice at Moody Bible Institute yesterday, Rivers said he was leaning toward starting Delonte West in place of Szczerbiak, though he mentioned Tony Allen was also a possibility.

Pierce practiced with padding over his elbow. When asked if the padding would affect his shooting, Pierce said to ask Allen, who guarded the captain during the workout. Needless to say, Allen did not have a very good day on defense.

"It's getting better," said Pierce. "There's just bruising and it's still a little sore. I wore a pad on it [yesterday] and it felt good . . . A lot of the swelling is down. I think it's more of a bruise. I'll probably wear the pad [tonight], just in case I fall."

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.