Had they squared off in a 3-point shootout or a game of H-O-R-S-E as players in their prime, Larry Bird and Danny Ainge probably could've put on a basketball exhibition for the ages.

After all, both Bird and Ainge played as if the 3-point arc was painted on the floor solely for their exploitation.

Now, both former Celtics sharpshooters are front-office maestros. Ainge is the C's director of basketball operations and Bird is president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers. When the eighth-seeded Celtics and the top-seeded Pacers, the team with the NBA's best record, square off this weekend in a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, some might look at is a grudge match between ex-teammates.

Don't expect Ainge to turn the attention away from the players on the court.

``It has never once crossed my mind,'' Ainge said before the C's concluded their regular season last night against the Atlanta Hawks at the FleetCenter. ``The only thing I think about is (the Pacers' Ron) Artest, (Jamaal) Tinsley, (Jermaine) O'Neal and (Jeff) Foster. Larry probably thinks the same way and the good news is he's not getting on the court and we don't have much to do with what's going on.

``That's probably just one of those fun things people think about.''