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Though small, Scot Pollard's contributions have been invaluable to the Celtics. (EVAN RICHMAN/FILE/BOSTON GLOBE) |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - His contribution looked meager in the end, when his teammates were mobbing Ray Allen, maker of the game-winning shot against the Bobcats. But a careful review of Saturday night's game showed some valuable contributions from Scot Pollard, who played 11 useful minutes in a game decided by 1 point.
He had 5 points, all on free throws. He grabbed a couple of rebounds and blocked a shot. He was one of the five Celtics on the floor in the second quarter who held the lead while Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce all rested, a rarity. Pollard's stint represented a season high in minutes; he's appeared in eight of the team's 12 games. He is gradually rounding into shape following a preseason ankle injury.
"I thought Scot, the last couple of games, has been fantastic," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said yesterday before the team practiced at UNC-Charlotte.
Actually, it was in two of the last three games. Pollard played only 88 seconds against the Lakers Friday. But he had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 9-plus minutes against the Warriors last Wednesday. Those are the kind of numbers - in minutes, points, and rebounds - that the Celtics will gladly take from the 32-year-old veteran.
"I'm starting to get there," Pollard said. "I'm still rusty. I'm doing little things like I normally do, and I'm doing some little things that I don't normally do. I'm still learning the timing of the sets. Guys are not used to me and what I do."
Eventually, the Celtics hope Pollard becomes a regular rotation player, doing all of the stuff that has kept him in the league since 1997. He's on board, contractually, for only one season, the same as last year, when he played for Cleveland, tonight's opponent. He is hoping to have a bigger role for this year's Celtics than he did for last year's Cavs, although he wouldn't mind the same endgame (reaching the NBA Finals).
Pollard appeared in just 24 games for the Cavs, totaling 109 minutes. He played only three minutes in three playoff games. In other words, he wasn't a factor, although he felt at times that he could have been.
"When they signed me, it was as an insurance policy," he said. "They had two starters and two backups at the big [positions] so I knew going in I was the fifth big.
"But at the same time, there were opportunities during the season and in the playoffs that I wish I had been used a little more - and if you ask [coach] Mike Brown, he may say, 'Man, maybe I should have used him a little more.'
"I knew that going in. It wasn't a surprise that I was on the bench. It would have been nice to get more minutes. There were guys hurt. Or there were situations where I thought I might match up better against a certain player.
"But I don't have any regrets. They have a great organization out there. Dan Gilbert is a great owner. Mike Brown is a great coach. They care about winning, about building a quality product. I had a good time there."
Pollard also got a day-to-day look at LeBron James who, Rivers said yesterday, "is Oscar Robertson." Pollard was asked if he saw any similarities in the approaches of James and Garnett.
"They do definitely have a similar characteristic - and that's fire," he said. "They both compete very hard, in games, in practice. It doesn't matter what it is. They both want to win everything they do."
Rivers conducted an Allen-free practice yesterday. Ray Allen, it turns out, tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter Saturday night but gave absolutely no thought to coming out of the game. (Good thing, considering how it ended.) But the ankle swelled up on him Sunday. "This is a day for treatment and rest," he said. In years past, Allen said, he would have practiced in similar situations, but he learned from last year, when he had surgery, to take the necessary time to heal. He fully expects to play tonight. Tony Allen, meanwhile, is not as sure. He still has a bruised thigh, courtesy of a Primoz Brezec knee. As a precaution, the Celtics called Gabe Pruitt back from Utah in the D-League, and Pruitt is expected to be back in uniform tonight. Pruitt had 31 points Saturday night in Utah's D-League opener. He had 12 points (and 9 turnovers) in Utah's second game, a Sunday night loss to the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Rivers said what most impressed him about Saturday's win was how his team defended down the stretch. "In those last three possessions, in a 2-point game, we didn't score," he said. "But they didn't score, either. If they do, the game is over. We got to the final shot because we stopped them three possessions in a row. I said, 'Guys, that's where we won the game.' Clearly, we got the [winning] shot and got the deflection [which led to the shot]. But to me, that was where we won the game." . . . Rivers on James: "He is Oscar Robertson. He literally is. He's scoring, defending, assisting." The coach said that despite some chippiness in the past between the teams, he doesn't see any big rivalry in store with Cleveland. "Rivalries start the year after you play a team in the playoffs," he said. "They're the conference champs. We want to be where they're at. They've proven they can win playoff games and get to the Finals. We haven't proven any of that."
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
