We talkin' 'bout practice

With games just about every other day, the Celtics will not hold another full practice until March 21 in Dallas, the day after they play the Mavericks. But that doesn’t mean the team is sitting home watching soap operas on its off days.

“Optional days are just that guys come in on their own, get extra running in, [put] shots up, [do] weight lifting,” said Kevin Garnett. “Just because we call it a day off from practice and we aren’t all organized doesn’t mean that guys don’t come in.”

Garnett says about 9-10 players typically work out on the team’s off days, keeping their routines the same in a grueling NBA season.

Tomorrow, new additions Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown will run through plays with 5 or 6 other Celtics players. The rest of the team can work out, if they want to. Rivers said he expects the team to resume full practices in April.

Rivers said he couldn’t have done this with last year’s team, which featured significantly younger players.

“Every single guy will be in the gym tomorrow,” said Rivers. “That’s why we do it. We kind of fell upon that when we noticed that…Once we saw that they continued to do that, throughout the year, then as a coach you knew this was a team you could give days off to.”

Besides Garnett, one player who is always present on the team’s off days is Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis.

“If he doesn’t [come every day], he would be ‘Bigger Baby'," joked Rivers.