It's waiting game for West

Little more than an hour before tipoff last night, a sweaty Delonte West walked into the Celtics locker room wearing his game shorts and a warm-up top after a pregame workout. Even though he looked ready to play, West said he would miss last night's game against the Bulls for "precautionary reasons."

According to West, team physician Brian McKeon and trainer Ed Lacerte decided it would be best for the point guard to sit out another game as he recovers from a mild concussion suffered last Wednesday against the Houston Rockets. West added he definitely would return to action when the Celtics play the Bulls tomorrow night in Chicago. But coach Doc Rivers said nothing was certain.

"Doc [McKeon] looked at him and said, 'He's out,' " said Rivers. "I just let the doctors do their thing. I don't think we know anything [about West playing tomorrow]. [McKeon] didn't say he was out of the woods or anything. He just said he wasn't playing [last night]. I don't think anything is definite with concussions and stuff like that."

While West anticipated participating in a full-contact practice, Rivers was not sure the Celtics would hold a workout today before flying to Chicago. Even if the team practiced, Rivers indicated West probably would not participate in the workout and instead would wait until shootaround tomorrow morning.

West believes he'll be ready.

"I'm good to go, but Dr. McKeon and Ed Lacerte wanted me to give it one more day," said West. "It's precautionary. I don't even know how to spell precautionary, so I guess so.

"[The full-court drills yesterday] felt great. I got a lot of work in [Saturday] and I feel great, but I've got to listen to the experts. We're going to see these guys again in two days, so I'll just get ready for Tuesday. [The medical staff] said it was OK for me to still work out and condition, just stay away from contact."

With every game West misses, third-stringer Sebastian Telfair receives an opportunity to show what he can do. Last night, Telfair finished with 7 points and 2 assists in 24 minutes off the bench in the Celtics' 94-78 loss. "I feel I was taken out of the lineup in the middle of the season because we were going downstream as a team and we weren't winning, not that anybody else came and took my place and we started winning," said Telfair. "But it just opened up opportunities for other guys. I feel if I come in and I have an impact on the game as far as winning the game, I can gain confidence and Doc can get me on the court." When asked if he understood what he needed to do to earn more minutes, Telfair added: "I don't understand anything. But I face reality and I face that it's going to take some more hard work and staying dedicated and understanding what Doc wants me to do, and that's be a playmaker. He feels that's what I do best. And I feel the same." . . . Leon Powe scored a career-high 11 points in 18 minutes . . . Referee Leroy Richardson took an entertaining tumble midway through the third quarter when he collided with Luol Deng on the sideline.

Telfair, who agreed to attend Louisville but went straight to the NBA from high school, is one of four players on the Boston roster who didn't attend college, which makes loyalties during NCAA Tournament time a flexible proposition. "It's funny listening to them in the locker room, talking about the schools that they were going to go to," said Rivers, who figured some college teams had older lineups than the ones he threw together as injuries mounted. "Al [Jefferson] was cheering for Arkansas. It was pretty comical. Gerald [Green] just cheers for everybody. I think he was going everywhere. He says Oklahoma State, but I think he would have gone anywhere." . . . Rivers did not have an update on the condition of Ryan Gomes (left mid-foot sprain), but he didn't think Gomes would travel to Chicago . . . Rivers traveled to Madison Square Garden Saturday night to see his son, Jeremiah, compete for Georgetown and help win the Big East tournament title . . . Adidas and the Celtics announced they will team to launch a commemorative, limited-edition line of jerseys and shoes to honor the late Red Auerbach. The merchandise will be available at the Garden Pro Shop, on Celtics.com, NBAStore.com, shopadidas.com, and at select stores.