The Blazers started three rookies on Tuesday night for the first time since 1971 and still managed to beat the Boston Celtics 91-86.

Sidney Wicks, Larry Steele, and Bill Smith started for Portland in '71, and it was Greg Oden, Nicolas Batum, and Rudy Fernandez, who started in place of Brandon Roy.

The Celtics have been accused of being a cocky and arrogant team, but Kevin Garnett says that the defending-champions couldn't care less.

"Hey, look here, man," Kevin Garnett said Tuesday afternoon. "We're not here to be liked. And when we're out there, a lot of times we're talking to ourselves. We're communicating amongst each other and it has nothing to do with the other team, and the other team likes to jump in or say little (expletive). A lot of that we let go. We don't even comment on a lot of stuff, because half the guys who are talking we don't even know their names.

"A lot of times we let our play do the talking. Doc (Rivers) doesn't really encourage us to talk. He encourages us to communicate amongst each other. But a couple of the times we do have conversations with some guys, now it's coming off like we're non-classy. But it's never told what's being said to us. I mean, class vs. class I can understand. But when you're dealing with idiots who don't know what they're talking about or guys who are just talking out their (tail) or just talking out their mouth, then that's a whole other level."

P.J. Brown said Wednesday he's officially retired.

"My career ended June 17," Brown said of the day the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA title.

Brown had left a voice message to that effect nearly five months ago, on Aug. 7, but would never use the "R" word.

"I want to tell you that, I wanted to let you know that I'm officially announcing my, uh, I wanted to say I'm leaving the game," was the way Brown put it that day, stopping short of using the words 'retirement' or 'retired.' "There's been a question around here. People are asking me every day but I just wanted to let you know that today, I'm officially, uh, uh, my career ends."

The Blazers handed the Celtics their third loss in four games on Tuesday night, but even more surprising was their scoring with six men on the court.

With 10.3 seconds left in the second quarter, the Blazers took to the floor and scored with six men on the court. The refs didn't catch it until after Travis Outlaw scored. The basket was counted.

Needless to say, Celtics coach Doc Rivers was upset.                                      

"We even called the league about it and they didn't know what to do," he said.

A still frustrated Rivers took a comment sheet from NBA Official Mike Callahan and dropped it into a reporters hand while Ray Allen was conducting an interview.

"Here's another brilliant quote," a visibly upset Rivers said before leaving the Celtics locker room.

Callahan said the following:

"If we would have caught the six men on the court before the made goal then there would have been no score. We would have called a technical foul on Portland and stopped play. After the technical foul shot (by Boston), Portland would have inbounded the ball as they were in possession before the stoppage."

Kevin Garnett has been playing more minutes than usual lately, so Celtics' coach Doc Rivers is trying to make an effort to give his star some time off.

"He was at 34 or 35 or 33 on a lot of nights," said Rivers. "Then that way, once in a while you could extend it. That would be a great number."

Garnett is content with whatever Rivers wants to do.

"Whatever Doc says, I'm with. I wish I was perfect. But I feel really, really good. I haven't always had the chance to say that this year," Garnett said of his workload.

Warriors' coach Don Nelson believes that the Lakers will dethrone the defending-champion Celtics this season.

"The other team that I saw that was really good was Orlando. I know what Boston is doing and what they did, but they still have two players missing from their last team that are really important to them," Nelson said.

"They either have to get those guys back or replace them with someone because I just think that the Lakers, after a year of going to the (NBA) Finals, are just ready. They know what it takes, and they are so well-coached and disciplined."

David West hit a jumper with two seconds left on the clock to give the Hornets a 105-103 win over the Pacers in Indiana on Sunday night.

- Denver 117, New York 110

Team FIC Differential: Nuggets +6.4, Knicks -6.4

Carmelo Anthony returned for the Nuggets (20-11) on Sunday afternoon in the team?s win over the Knicks (11-18). Nene had 13 points and 9 rebounds; Chauncey Billups tallied 14 points and 5 assists; and Anthony led with 32 points and 9 boards. Denver shot 56% at Madison Square Garden and outrebounded New York by twelve. David Lee posted 14 points and 12 rebounds; Chris Duhon turned in 17 points and 11 assist; and Nate Robinson scored 20 points in the loss.

Game FIC Scores

Carmelo Anthony, Denver ? 24.1

Chris Duhon, New York ? 22.9

David Lee, New York ? 18.9

J.R. Smith, Denver ? 14.2

- Dallas 98, L.A. Clippers 76

Team FIC Differential: Mavericks +30.6, Clippers -30.6

Even without Dirk Nowitzki (suspension), the Mavericks (18-12) easily handled the Clippers (8-21). Josh Howard starred with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists; James Singleton posted 11 points and 8 rebounds; and Brandon Bass contributed 14 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Dallas outrebounded Los Angeles by fifteen while going 9-for-22 from three-point land. Marcus Camby had 16 points and 12 rebounds; Baron Davis tallied 10 points and 9 assists; and rookie Eric Gordon scored 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting for the Clippers.

Game FIC Scores

Josh Howard, Dallas ? 25.5

Marcus Camby, Los Angeles ? 19.3

Jason Kidd, Dallas ? 17.0

Baron Davis, Los Angeles 9.1

- Cleveland 93, Miami 86

Team FIC Differential: Cavaliers +4.1, Heat -4.1

The Cavaliers (26-4) used a 35-19 edge in the fourth quarter to edge the Heat (16-13) at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night. LeBron James had 33 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds; Mo Williams scored 20 points; and Anderson Varejao contributed 12 points and 10 boards in the victory. Cleveland shot 40%, but outrebounded Miami by three and attempted fifteen more foul shots. Dwyane Wade starred with 29 points and 8 assists; Udonis Haslem tallied 15 points and 9 rebounds; and Shawn Marion added 4 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Game FIC Scores

LeBron James, Cleveland ? 26.3

Dwyane Wade, Miami ? 17.6

Ben Wallace, Cleveland ? 12.8

Udonis Haslem, Miami ? 11.1

- New Orleans 105, Indiana 103

Team FIC Differential: Hornets +5.7, Pacers -5.7

David West made a jump shot with just a few seconds remaining to give the Hornets (18-9) a stunning road win over the Pacers (10-20). Chris Paul had 19 points and 12 assists; James Posey scored 19 points off the bench; and West posted 18 points and 10 rebounds. Indiana shot 50% on the night and outrebounded New Orleans by nine but turned the ball over 17 times. Danny Granger starred with 34 points and 5 rebounds; Troy Murphy tallied 16 points and 16 boards; and rookie Roy Hibbert turned in 19 points and 6 rebounds in yet another close loss.

Game FIC Scores

Troy Murphy, Indiana ? 21.5

Chris Paul, New Orleans ? 21.3

Danny Granger, Indiana ? 16.4

David West, New Orleans ? 14.3

- Boston 108, Sacramento 63

Team FIC Differential: Celtics +85.5, Kings -85.5

Upset after losing two consecutive games, the Celtics (27-4) handed the Kings (7-23) an emphatic defeat on Sunday night. Kevin Garnett had 21 points and 11 rebounds; Paul Pierce tallied 13 points and 6 boards; and Kendrick Perkins turned in 7 points and 12 rebounds. Boston shot 51%, while limiting Sacramento to 27% and outrebounded the home team by twenty-two. John Salmons led the Kings in scoring with 11 points while rookie Jason Thompson posted 9 points and 6 rebounds in defeat.

Game FIC Scores

Kevin Garnett, Boston ? 18.1

Ray Allen, Boston ? 18.1

Mikki Moore, Sacramento ? 6.6

Jason Thompson, Sacramento ? 5.5

- L.A. Lakers 130, Golden State 113

Team FIC Differential: Lakers +27.1, Warriors -27.1

The Lakers (25-5) used decisive runs in the first and third quarters to down the Warriors (9-23) at STAPLES Center. Kobe Bryant led with 31 points; Andrew Bynum tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds; and Pau Gasol poured in 13 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists. Los Angeles shot 51% from the field and outrebounded Golden State by fourteen. Jamal Crawford had 22 points and 5 assists; Andris Biedrins posted 8 points and 17 rebounds; and Brandan Wright added 14 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists for the Warriors.

Game FIC Scores

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles ? 23.5

Andris Biedrins, Golden State ? 17.9

Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles ? 16.6

Jamal Crawford, Golden State ? 14.8

? RealGM calculates the Floor Impact Counter using the following formula: (Points + .75 Defensive Rebounds + Offensive Rebounds + Steals + Assists + Blocks - .75 Field Goal Attempts - .375 Free Throw Attempts - Turnovers - .5 Personal Fouls)

( )'s indicate a negative FIC score.

It is also used to rank players and to determine their ?Reina Value.?
Click here to view the player rankings with the Reina Value for the current season

Celtics' coach Doc Rivers doesn't think that the team will be able to land free agent center Dikembe Mutombo this season.

"No, I don't think we're going to get him," said Rivers. "We talked to David (Falk, Mutombo's agent), and I would say it's a no.

"We would love him, but we're going to wait it out."

Boston hasn't given up on P.J. Brown coming back, but at this point Danny Ainge believes Brown's not coming out of retirement.

The Christmas Day game between the Lakers and Celtics was the highest rated regular-season NBA game in four years.

The rematch of the 2008 NBA finals earned a 5.3 fast national rating on ABC, according to the network.

The rating was 51 percent higher than the 3.5 mark for last year's late Christmas game between the Lakers and the Suns.

Boston center Kendrick Perkins missed the team's loss to Golden State on Friday night with a sprained left shoulder.

Perkins suffered the injury on Christmas Day against the Lakers and has called it "nothing serious".

"I'm just going off feel right now," said Perkins. "I probably could play if it was the playoffs or something. It's a back-to-back. I just felt like I needed to have a few days to rest. It's a little sore more than anything. It's nothing serious."