Gerald Green returned to Boston on Friday during the middle of a 10-day contract with the Nets. Green was a first round pick by the Celtics in 2005 coming straight from high school.

“You always say you wish you could turn back the hands of time,” said Green. “I definitely do wish I could, but the one thing about mistakes, if you know you’ve made [one], you can continue to correct it. That’s when you know you’ve improved and have grown up,”

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” added Green, who scored 11 points. “I know I’ve made a mistake and I realize that, instead of me trying to say I was doing things the right way and blame everybody else. I’m just so happy I found out early in my career I could still change things around,”

“I think there still is a very good chance for Gerald Green. He was just so young when he was here,” Doc Rivers said. “He’s skilled. People look at Gerald and they just saw this freak athlete that won the dunk contest. Gerald can make shots. He can really shoot the basketball. He just hadn’t been taught how to play basketball.

“I hope it works out for him,” he added. “It would be a terrific story. I would probably be one of the happier guys. He’s not a bad kid. He’s never been a bad kid. He just needed some direction.

“He’s just more mature, you can see it in his play. Avery was telling me how much he watches film now. He’s studying the game. Sometimes when you’re young you don’t think, ‘What the hell do I need to study Kobe Bryant for? I’m better than him.’ He never said that, but I’m just saying that’s how they think and Kobe is sitting there watching him on film and that’s the difference.”