Vote of approval from these ranks

HOUSTON - Doc Rivers kept his focus on game preparations before the Celtics' 103-99 win over Houston last night. But afterward he turned his attention to the presidential election.

"The guys are celebrating in there," Rivers said of his players' reaction to Barack Obama's victory. "I told them this isn't a black-and-white thing, don't look at it that way. It's good for America. I don't care who you voted for, America got involved."

Before the game, Rivers had observed, "This is the first time I can remember in sports so many guys being so interested in the results. I've never seen anything like this, ever.

"Players, coaches, everybody talking about it - it doesn't mean they are pro-Obama, pro-McCain, or whatever. It's just that I'm amazed at the interest.

"Kevin [ Garnett] asked me if I was watching the coverage and I said no. I don't want the distraction. I told Kevin, 'I voted, that's all I can do, and we'll find out afterwards.'

"Absolutely, this is something that is historic."

Fast break

The Celtics, who improved to 3-1 last night, had a 13-2 record in November last season.

"If we didn't do what we did in November last year, Game 7 [of the Eastern Conference semifinals] would have been in Cleveland and we would have been playing the Lakers in LA," Rivers said.

The Rockets are also 3-1 now.

"They are a team that has a goal of winning the championship," Rivers said. "They see us as one of their obstacles, and we see them as one of ours."

The Rockets added Ron Artest to join Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, a move similar to the Celtics' strategy last year of bringing in Ray Allen and Garnett to join Paul Pierce.

"If anyone can figure it out in our league, it will be [Houston coach] Rick [ Adelman]," said Rivers. "He's won everywhere he's been. Offensively, his teams have been terrific. In our ranks, he is legendary with the movement he gets from his players, and so if anyone can figure it out, it's Rick."

Active role, sort of

Bill Walker was on the Celtics' active list for the first time last night, though he did not play. Sam Cassell, J.R. Giddens, and Patrick O'Bryant were on the inactive list.

"[Walker] has been busting his butt," Rivers said before the game. "He's a very competitive player, this game is going to be very competitive, and we may need him.

"Just a tough-nosed, hard-nosed player, and if Paul happened to get in foul trouble and somebody else doesn't work out, with Artest you need a strong body."

Transition game

The Celtics are in transition following the losses of P.J. Brown and James Posey, according to Adelman.

"Losing Posey is a big loss for them," Adelman said. "Take away P.J., he was playing a lot of minutes for them, he's so experienced. Posey made shots and gave them good defense. Take that away and it's going to take a while to get it back. They are probably feeling it out right now.

"They are probably the best defensive team in the league."

He'll push them

Pierce believes Allen Iverson, acquired in a trade from Denver Monday, will change the Detroit Pistons' style of play. "I think it helps Detroit in the style they are trying to play," Pierce said. "They are trying to play a little bit faster style. Iverson is one of the great players in our league. The trade can help both teams. A lot of people say it helped Denver more, but how can it not help Detroit with a guy like Iverson in the backcourt pushing the ball?" . . . An Athens daily, Eleftheros Typos, reported that Pierce is considering playing in Greece after his NBA career concludes.

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at fdellapa@globe.com