--Coach Doc Rivers revealed that Larry Brown came close to joining the Celtics as an assistant coach before last season.
"It was very close," said Rivers. "He said yes. That's about as close as you can get. But, like I jokingly said, it was a Larry yes, not a sign-on-the-document yes. I knew what was going on, though. His wife's parents were not doing well. He knew it was a tough decision. He said yes but he may not be able to do it. He just thought at the end of the day he needed to be at home. "He would be a great guy to lean on. He would have been great. I would have loved him. He is overqualified -- that's why I would have loved him. He's a great mind, and the more you're around him, the more you understand that."
--Coach Doc Rivers on Allen Iverson blowing off a Thanksgiving practice in Detroit: "I don't even want to get involved in that. I'll put it like this: I'm glad that we're not involved. That's the way I look at it. I don't think our guys would do that, but you never know."
Part of him feels for Pistons coach Michael Curry.
"Yeah, he's trying to change his team," Rivers said. "So you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I thought our guys played hard. We just got totally outplayed." -- Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy after his team lost to the Celtics
