<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Gary Payton missed practice yesterday with what the Celtics called lower back pain. The team should have a better idea today about whether Payton can play tomorrow night against New York at Madison Square Garden. If he can't, coach Doc Rivers plans to start rookie Delonte West in his place.But Rivers knows better than to count out Payton. The veteran point guard is known for his ironman consistency. He had a consecutive-game streak end at 305 on Jan. 3 because of a strained left hamstring. "Gary's back is bothering him," said Rivers. "At his age, that is absolutely a concern. It's been bothering him for about a week or so. "He rarely sits out a whole practice. He actually tried to run and couldn't. I don't know what to say because it's the first day of treatment. I think it just happened. He's had a herniated disk, but he's always had one." Rivers takes comfort in the fact that Boston has two healthy backup point guards (West and Marcus Banks), though he does not anticipate Payton missing an extended amount of time. Still, if Rivers had to choose between playing without Payton right now and having Payton healthy for the playoffs, it would be no contest.</div> Source
Back injuries are never a good thing, so let's hope it's not too serious. For the purposes of this game however, I don't believe not having GP will be a major detriment to the C's(If he doesn't end up playing, which is still TBD). Banks and West are both starting to get over thier issues: Banks' general offensive issues and West with his shooting confidence. I'll bet Starbury is licking his chops at the thought of getting the 2 youngin's, but I'm hoping he'll end up disappointed at nights end.
If he doesn't play, it will be interesting to see who starts in his place. West got the nod when GP was a FA, but Banks has been our backup in the last couple of games (with West playing as a shooting guard). Banks has been playing very well recently, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's who Doc went with.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Rivers kept things short yesterday and said he believed Payton would play tonight. </div> http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2005...o_play_tonight/ My money's on GP.
