Doc Rivers and Wally Szczerbiak got into a shouting match while they were walking to the locker room at halftime on Wednesday night.  Defensive assignments were the point of contention.

"It was rectified," said Rivers. "It was no big deal, though. It was good. It was great because we could show them at halftime and they saw the mistakes."

Said Szczerbiak: "I love Doc. Strong-willed individuals are going to get into it once in a while. I know when to bury the hatchet and I think he does to. We're just going to move on. We figured it out in here at halftime. We ironed out the problem. It was just competitive guys going at it. It got me going a little bit."

Delonte West is getting healthy again and is reclaiming his point guard position in the rotation.

"The past couple of days is the first time I've felt 100% healthy all around my whole body," said West. "I can see the effects every day. I'm more confident going to the basket now. I'm putting it together."

Danny Ainge wasn't in attendance when Boston fans began a "Fire Doc" chant during the Celtics' loss to the Knicks, but he said on Saturday that it will not change his opinion of the coach.

When asked about displeasure of the fans, Ainge said, "I think that's sad. I think that's completely unfair. I don't know what else to say. We did not respond in the right way [against the Knicks]. We let our emotions get the best of us. And that's not Doc's fault."

According to a source that spoke with Peter Vecsey, Danny Ainge has made several trade offers to the Memphis Grizzlies with the hope of acquiring Pau Gasol.

Gasol has begun running sprints and is expected to return in a few weeks.

As the Knicks put the finishing touches on a 101-77 win in Boston, fans began a ?Fi-re Doc!? chant.

?I have no reaction to the crowd,? Paul Pierce said when asked about the fans calling for his coach?s firing.

Al Jefferson returned to action last night, two weeks after undergoing an appendectomy, wearing protective padding around his midsection.

Although Jefferson was pleased with his quick return, he expects to feel fatigued in his first couple games back. He had 6 points and 8 rebounds last night in 19 minutes against the Bobcats.

"I felt good for a half," Jefferson said. "The second half, I kind of felt it a little bit, toward the fourth quarter. I surprised myself. I thought I was going to be in worse shape that I was. [The offense] was there. I've been running the court, getting a lot of shots up, so when I come back I won't be rusty."

Leon Powe's name comes up often these days during Cal basketball practices. No matter that he's now a rookie with the Celtics.

How are the Golden Bears going to replace one of the Pac-10's top players? Who is going to pick up the rebounding load? And how about his scoring?

Coach Ben Braun and his staff are quick to remind their players of what's in store without the second-team All-American: Everybody must contribute more if the Bears are to return to the NCAA tournament.

Isiah Thomas picked the wrong time to stage a one-man protest.

The Knicks coach was ejected in the fourth quarter of Boston's 122-118 victory at the Garden last night, essentially giving away two points that his team desperately could not afford to lose.

The ejection came with 2:15 remaining, and the Knicks, who had overcome a 20-point second-half deficit, trailing by six with possession of the ball. However, Thomas argued his way into two technical fouls - both called by referee Joe DeRosa - that helped the Celts extend their lead to eight.

When asked about the incident, Thomas, after a long pause, said, "We're at home and it speaks for itself. You watch the game and it speaks for itself."

A slight tear in his abdominal muscle, will force Michael Olowokandi to miss two to four weeks of action.

Olowokandi sat out Thursday's practice with pain in his stomach. He had an MRI exam Thursday night, revealing a small tear.

"It's worse than I guess we thought," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Michael actually wanted to get a shot to play, and then when they found out it was a small tear they obviously ruled that out."

"It?s not coaching that?s the problem here, and it?s not our offense - it?s us and our commitment," said Celtics forward Kendrick Perkins about his team's struggles. "I don?t want anyone blaming the coaches for this. We have good defensive schemes, and they put us in the right position to make plays. We just have to stick with it and see it all the way through."

Perkins? comments only buoyed Rivers? spirits yesterday in what could have been a particularly rough day of practice.

"The biggest difference for me between now and then is that (Orlando) team was a bad team," Rivers said. "Someone asked me that question the other day, too, and I said that the difference is that I would never trade the team I have now."

"This is a team you have to stay with through the pain. But that?s all right with me. I can live with this kind of frustration."