Posted by Brian Robb on Jan 10, 2012 Comments (1)

The Celtics held an hour and a half practice here in Waltham today, as they wrapped up what will be their longest non All-Star respite of the regular season. The second unit, appeared to shine second straight full squad session, according to head coach Doc Rivers, an encouraging sight for the coaching staff given their recent struggles. Some extra practice over the long break, may be the main reason, as they were likely working as a unit over the weekend together as well. Here’s Doc with some thoughts:

“Not well. The second unit was phenomenal today and the starters didn’t have a great practice. They did the second half of practice. But, we had two good days, though, of work, and that was good.”

Like yesterday, Marquis Daniels was out again with the flu, meaning Mickael Pietrus saw reps again with the second unit. He’s still on target to debut tomorrow night against Dallas. Here’s more from Doc:

Will Pietrus see more time with Daniels out?

“No. We’re going to play Mickael anyway. And it’s Mickael That’s what he says. Come on now, if you’re going to call him right, call him right. We call him MP, so it’s easier. But yeah, he’ll play. He would have played regardless. If he can play, he’ll play.”

What spots will he play?

“Yeah, two and three. More three, but both.”

Any minute limitation?

“No, but he won’t be on a minute restriction. So it’ll be our eyes. What he does, it’ll be his play. That’s easy.”

With Pietrus in the fold, the leash on Daniels, Avery Bradley and the other swingmen on the bench just got a bit shorter. With that said, Pietrus will have to earn his playing time to a degree, but given how poorly Bradley and Daniels have been on the offensive end, they’d both better step up their games in a hurry if they want to see any more extended floor time on a regular basis.

With the C’s hovering around .500 during a mere 66-game season, playtime is over. Doc know he has to string together some wins during this home friendly month, before things get much tougher in March and April as far as the schedule goes.

That’s all for now, more from Paul Pierce on the team’s struggles so far later this evening.