WALTHAM - While Celtics forward James Posey was surrounded by media following practice yesterday after missing the last two games with a back injury, his boss made him smile by joking about the situation.
"Is that all you have to do, get hurt, to get interviewed out there?" said executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
Posey and Brian Scalabrine overcame recent injuries to return to practice, and they have been cleared to play in tonight's game against the Pacers in Indianapolis. Posey has been bothered by back spasms he first experienced against Denver last Wednesday. Scalabrine missed Saturday's win at New Jersey after suffering a concussion a night earlier against visiting Atlanta.
"I'm comfortable [playing them]," said coach Doc Rivers. "With James, you can look and see how he's moving, so that's easy. With Scal, it's tough because I can't get inside of his head, nor do I want to."
Posey said he was hurt when he got "smashed in between four players" against Denver, and it got worse when he took an offensive charge from J.R. Smith. Posey was walking slowly and hunched over after that game. The first-year Celtic said he was given muscle relaxants and has had restless sleep, in the fetal position with a pillow between his legs.
But he practiced yesterday without the muscle relaxants, felt OK after getting hit on his back, and is confident he will play tonight. The 6-foot-8-inch, 217-pounder has played in only two games, missing the season opener to serve a one-game suspension.
"I felt a lot better," he said. "I was trying to see what I was able to do out there, and it felt good for the most part. I'll go from there."
Scalabrine suffered the concussion when he was accidentally backhanded by Atlanta's Al Horford. Scalabrine was coherent when he was taken to New England Baptist for observations and very sleepy when he was released Saturday morning, since the medical staff periodically woke him to check him overnight.
Scalabrine said he felt good after riding an exercise bicycle for about 35-40 minutes Sunday at the practice facility. The 6-9, 235-pounder said he felt "a little foggy" at the beginning of practice yesterday but was better after about 20 minutes. He didn't take part in the end of the session because of the physicality of it.
"I can't worry about [getting hit]," said Scalabrine, who also suffered a concussion as a sophomore playing for Southern California. "I'm just looking forward to being back and playing again."
Garnett honored
Forward Kevin Garnett was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He had three double-doubles and averaged 22.7 points, 15.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks. He leads the NBA in rebounds with 15.8 per game. This is the 16th time he has received the Player of the Week honor . . . Rivers originally expected to meet the team in Indianapolis, as he had returned to Chicago after Saturday's win in New Jersey to be with his grieving family. But Rivers, who attended his father's funeral Saturday morning, made it back for practice yesterday. He said the Celtics have to work on things such as protecting big leads and executing offensively. "We really needed this practice," Rivers said. "We've had a lot of slippage. [Sunday] I was going over it with all the coaches and trying to explain. I thought it would be good if we were all here. This is an important practice. We don't have another quality one for quite some time."Minutes men
Before the season, Rivers had said he would like his star trio of Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen to play fewer than 40 minutes per game. Through five games, Allen is averaging 40.6 minutes - he played the entire 48 minutes against New Jersey Saturday - Garnett is averaging 39.8, Pierce 38.4. Rivers, however, isn't worried about the minutes; he says it's circumstantial because of recent injuries and an overtime win at Toronto. "They've been with 37, 38, 39 a lot," Rivers said. "I can live with those minutes."Marc J. Spears can be reached at spears@globe.com
