Via Peter May at ESPNBoston:

All 15 players participated in the Boston Celtics’ morning shootaround before Game 2 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers, according to a team official. 

That would suggest that, like Game 1, the Celtics should have everyone available. Paul Pierce (left MCL sprain), Ray Allen (bone spurs in right ankle), Avery Bradley (sore left rotator cuff), and Mickael Pietrus (swelling in right knee) are among the ailing on the Boston roster at the moment.

The news of a Pierce injury is no surprise (we all saw how much he was favoring it in Game 5) but it does explain a bit more about the extent of the ailment. Since suffering the injury during Sunday’s shoot-around before Game 4, Pierce has just made one trip to the free throw line in the past two games. Before that? He had been there 30 times in Games 1-3.

For an offense that struggles to score, Boston can win without Pierce getting to the free throw line. Nonetheless, without the threat, it just makes life on the C’s offense that much harder and makes the need for everyone else on the roster to shoot well even more crucial. Between getting some rest and getting their defense set, getting to the line pays major dividends for the C’s. Pierce is the best and sometimes only man for that job in Boston, but it remains to be seen if he can be more than a hobbled jump shooter with the injury. Keep a close eye on it tonight.

Bradley spoke a bit to The Boston Herald about his shoulder injury this morning. The shooting guard scored just two points in 17 minutes on Tuesday night:

“It feels good,” Bradley said. “It’s just a little sore, but I’ve been fighting through the pain all year so I’ll be ready for the game. I’m going to get hit and there’s a chance it could pop out, but I try not to think about it. I just go out there and just play.”

Game 6 tips off in just over seven hours.

Let’s start with The Truth, who suffered an injury Sunday morning. I’ll let him take it from there:

““I kind of tripped over someone’s foot.  I had to sit around the last half of shoot-around, and tonight I just kind of re-aggravated it when I came up off the screen with Josh Smith right there.  It’s a little bit sore right now so Doc just wanted to take precautions tonight especially when we had such a big lead.  I got some rest for the next game.….  You don’t want to really sit down or let it get stiff.  That’s why I went over and got on the bike there when I got out of the game.  If it had stiffened up on me I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to come back.”

After going 40+ minutes for the first three games, the blowout was certainly great timing for the captain. Pierce tweeted late last night that he would probably be fine moving forward

I think the knee is going to be fine glad I didn’t have to play a lot of minutes tonightto rest it good win tonight fellas

— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) May 7, 2012

Here’s Doc on Pierce’s sensationial effort despite concern going into the game about the injury:

“Yeah, we actually didn’t [know whether he would play] – when I left shoot-around, I probably thought he was not going to play. And (Trainer) Eddie (Lacerte) said, ‘Let’s see, let’s give it a try, and see how he feels.’ I talked to him right before the game; I asked him ‘What do you think?’ And he said, ‘Well let me just try to warm it up and see how I feel.’ It’s amazing. I mean, honestly, guys around the league – He was just dribbling the ball and went to the floor in shoot-around. And I was thinking, ‘What more can you –?’ We were walking. You know, that’s how you felt, like, my gosh. And honestly, when he went down, it didn’t look good. So the fact that he could come in and play, and then play the way he played was great.”

And here’s Doc talking about the multiple other injuries the team had to deal with over the course of the night:

“We had a lot of stuff going on,” Rivers said. “You may not have noticed, but we had a lot of things going on our bench with bodies. You know, MP’s hamstring, we had to take him out. Avery’s shoulder, Paul’s knee, Ray’s foot. The whole game you just felt like – I mean, you just kept looking down there – was there enough guys to put in the game?”

And what is the status for Paul and company for Game 5?

“I have no idea. You know, with a couple of guys, actually three of them, we literally don’t know. So we’ll find out.”

I assume the three guys he is referring to are Pierce, Bradley and Pietrus for game 5, as Allen’s ankle appears just to be getting better and better at this point. It’s fair to say all three are game-time decisions at this point for Tuesday, but the smart money is on all three suiting up. Either way, Tuesday’s shootaround in Atlanta (no practice today) should be another newsworthy event.

Ray Allen: The shooting guard showed little rust after returning from a 11-game absence last night (beyond a couple misses at the free throw line)  scoring 13 points in 36 minutes on the bench. The heavy workload was not exactly expected by the sharpshooter and Allen spoke at length about how he felt and his plans to recuperate moving forward:

“I didn’t think that I would be playing this sooner if I looked at how I felt last week. I think at Kevin at some point asked me, he said, “Do you think you are going to make it back for the series?” And I was like, “It’s not looking like it.” So the last 3 days have been pretty good with some of the things I’ve been doing, physically. In just the last 2 days, its been like night and day for me. Being able to get on the floor and move around and shoot. Being able to get into my routine, I’ve been so off routine for the past 2 months. It’s like me who I am. It’s been tough, you know you are almost from the outside looking in trying to be a part of the team and trying not to be in the way. Being back on the floor I felt alive. I felt like I was back in my own skin and it was a great feeling.”

And looking ahead, how will it respond?

“I believe when you get sidelined with any type of injury, sometimes you allow your body to take over and you just succumb to the injury or whatever soreness or pain you are dealing with. I know mine is real and it still is real but I’ve gotten to a point where I’m able to handle it a little bit better than maybe a week ago. From day to day sometimes I haven’t known kind of how it was going to affect me so in the last 2 or 3 days its probably been the best its been and I’ve been doing some things to help ail the pain I’ve been feeling in my ankle and it’s been great. So from day to day I don’t know somedays. And trying to give you guys answers is sometimes hard to really explain or give answers so it’s been great and I’m happy to be able to say that. And tomorrow’s a new day but again I’m not going to it looking like or feeling like a victim, I’m coming out of the sand thinking its going to be good tomorrow and its going to be even better Sunday.”

Here’s more from Doc on Ray:

“I thought the legs were shot at the end. We started trying to use him for decoy. He was terrific. And like I told you before the game – someone asked me, ‘Would there be a minute restriction?’ I said, “No, because we don’t know when he’ll play again or not.’ You know? So I’m getting everything I can get out of him each game. I’m saying that jokingly, but somewhat true as well. Tonight honestly, we needed him. It’s amazing the difference when he’s on the floor in our spacing, and how much more difficult it is for guys to help.”

And will he do anything today?

 ”I don’t want Ray in the gym because he would do something; he would shoot, or something.  So that’s unusual for us in the playoffs to take a day off, but they need one.”

Clearly, this is a situation where how Ray’s ankle responds to the punishment will determine his availability. The need for Allen will grow by leaps and bounds for Gamr 4 however depending on the status of Avery Bradley. The 21-year-old guard left the game in the third quarter last night with a left shoulder injury. After Celtics PR reported at first Bradley would return to action in the game, they came back moments later announcing he would be out. Here’s Doc on the injury:

 “Shoulder.  Shoulder went out.  And he’s had that problem all year.  Usually they’re able to, like a lego, they’ll snap it back in.  It wouldn’t go back in.  So we’ll find out more Saturday.”

100 points to Doc for the lego reference. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe has a source telling him that the shoulder injury is merely “a stinger” and Bradley will likely be available for Game 4, but given the fact this is a injury that forced Bradley to miss a couple games earlier this season, it’s certainly something to keep an eye on, but signs are pointing towards him being available in Game 4.

Finally, after his team fell just short without him last night, it appears Josh Smith is more determined than ever to play throughout his painful left knee injury and suit up for Game 4:

With Smith likely back, the C’s will need to step up their effort and energy in order to put Atlanta on the brink of elimination in Game 4.

The entire training camp roster was on the floor for the session, minus All-Star Paul Pierce, who has sat out practice for much of the past week with a sore right heel.

Pierce will miss the preseason contest tomorrow night, and with the season opener rapidly approaching on Sunday afternoon, Doc Rivers is beginning to show some concern about the possibility of Pierce missing regular season time.

“I am concerned, not long term—-but short term. We have those two games right off the bat. He’s only gone one practice, that’s basically it, so yeah, I’m concerned about it.”

Rivers also told reporters Pierce tried some drills on it yesterday during the team’s off day, but did not feel well on it today.

“He went real hard yesterday, and it just got real sore,” Rivers explained. “He felt good at first and we told him to go out and work, so he did some one-on-one stuff with some of the guys and his foot was extremely sore today.”

With the Celtics facing two elite opponents out of the gate in New York and Miami, Rivers and the training staff face a catch-22 with Pierce’s status as they try to balance starting the season on a positive note and making sure there are no lingering symptoms for Pierce this season.

“We just want the rest for him. The problem with that is, there will be a lot of rest and he may be ready., but no with no play or practice that’s scary.” Rivers continued. “But if he’s not [ready], he’s not.”

Obviously this will be a situation to keep a close eye on during the upcoming days, but Doc says Pierce will try out the heel again on Christmas Eve and the team will make a decision then on his status for Sunday.

And in somewhat other positive news, Sasha Pavlovic returned to practice today, and participated fully after sitting out the end of last week with a sore wrist. Look for him to be active tomorrow night and for Sunday’s opener with the team potentially needing him for depth purposes.