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.

Jermaine O’Neal needs surgery on a fractured left wrist suffered in Game 1 of the Knicks series. Ainge said that contributed to the problems JO had finishing at the rim during the postseason.

I think it’s safe to say we were all pleasantly surprised and satisfied with JO’s effort during the postseason. Flannery himself deserves credit here for remaining adamantly behind O’Neal and what he could bring during his injury-riddled season.

The truth though is this explains a few things about JO this postseason on top of the around the rim problems :

1) Why we probably didn’t seem him in crunch-time in the vast majority of the games.
2) His somewhat lackluster rebounding averages of 4.3 boards/game.
3) With a bad back on top of this, Jermaine gutted through more than we even realized, and deserves a lot of credit for it.

Ryan will be back later this afternoon with further insight on this and Doc’s extension, but with yet another devastating injury coming to the surface this afternoon, it’s time to come to grips with the fact your Boston Celtics were tougher this postseason than we realized.

We’ll start with the 39-year-old center, Shaq, who played just three minutes in Game 4, and according to Rivers had a “relapse” with his right calf/Achilles’ problem. Doc considers him doubtful for tonight.

“He’s done everything he could possibly do (to play). When he was originally injured no one even thought it was that serious. It just never healed, and now every time he plays it gets worse.”

Rajon Rondo is also “the same” according to Rivers, who commented that he was removed because of his defense during portions of the final quarter and overtime in Game 4. Here’s Doc again:

“I don’t know how much better he is going to get. He is what he is.”

On Glen Davis’ struggles:

“I have no idea what’s in his mind. I don’t even want to get in there. It’s safer where I’m at.”

CH Analysis: We’ll have plenty of time to dissect the failed bet on Shaquille O’Neal’s health improving in the upcoming weeks by Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers, but this puts a pretty dramatic exclamation point on the decision.

Shaq’s likely final contributions after February 1st 2011 for the record:

11 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 4 fouls.

We’re not going to beat up on Shaq here. He’s put too many miles on those tires over the year and was revelation for the first half of this season with the starting five, surpassing the expectations of even the most optimistic of Celtics fans.

Unfortunately, it may have got Ainge a little too amped up over his potential, and fooled him into believing that he and Jermaine O’Neal would be enough to man the center spot when all the chips were on the table. It will be a decision that will leave a bit of a stain on Ainge’s GM legacy in the years to come.

For now though, let’s bring things back to the present. The removal of Shaq, makes Nenad Krstic, Jeff Green, and Glen Davis more relevant than ever for Game 5. Krstic has been dealt a tough hand and a short leash by Doc all postseason, with just first half appearances and brief ones at that.

Expect another one of those tonight, if Shaq can’t go. The team could really use his outside offense, as will as couple offensive boards from the big guy, but his inability to be any kind of an interior presence against LeBron, Wade and company makes him a likely non-factor once again. I just hope Doc gives him enough time to prove us wrong.

Glen Davis, as as we all know, has been a major mess all series. His ineptness forced Doc to go with a three-guard lineup he barely used all season in Game 4 down the stretch, even before Miami made a decision to go small, simply because he didn’t trust Davis on either end against Chris Bosh or Joel Anthony. With that said, he’ll get his minutes tonight and have a shot a redemption. Whether he finds it, remains to be seen.

I’ll have a bit more on Rondo’s situation later on today, but for now a little inspiration from Doc on what he expects out of his guys tonight, who are seven-point underdogs in Vegas:

“They’ve got great pride. I think you’ll see that tonight. I think I’ll enjoy the way we play.”

“I think [Rondo's] ready to go,” said Arroyo. “He’s a warrior and he demonstrated that last game. We were all surprised, the fact that he came back after that injury. I know he’s ready. He wants to play, he wants to win. And Delonte, he was banged up but he’s ready to go. I’m always ready. I’m always ready for the challenge and obviously playing my old team would be even more motivating for me.”

“He’ll know how he feels more than me. But he’s ready to go.”

What can you say? The guy’s a warrior. On the Heat side of things, multiple reports are saying Spoelstra is staying mum on any potential lineup/inactive changes for tonight’s game. Will we see Big Z displaced from the starting five? We probably won’t know until lineup intros tonight, but I would expect some kind of change.

The team is calling Rondo a game-time decision for Game 4, but undoubtedly this news ups the odds for the C’s floor general being able to suit up for the crucial contest at TD Garden. A few other updates on the team which had a film session and light practice this afternoon over in Waltham. (Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com)

Doc Rivers on Rondo’s and West chances of playing tomorrow: “I’m optimistic about both, that they’re going to play,” said Rivers. “I don’t know why I am, but I am. I just don’t know how well either one can play. But like I’ve said, if you’re on the floor, you’re healthy, and that’s the way it’s been. That’s been my motto since I’ve been here and our guys believe that.”

“I think it was Kevin [Garnett] actually who said it, what I always say, ‘If you’re in uniform, you’re healthy. If you’re not healthy, you’re not in uniform.’ That’s how we always viewed it,” Rivers said. “And we will make no excuses [Monday]. [Monday] is a playoff game, it’s Game 4, and we have to win. That’s all we have to think about.”

On Shaq: “It’s day to day with Shaq and his body, and his life in the NBA, but I do think he’ll be able to [provide a similar effort to Game 3],”

On the possibility Carlos Arroyo will have to suit up: “It helps that he knows their stuff. But knowing our stuff is really important as well. And he’s been here long enough, so he knows that as well.