Pierce probably back Friday; Brown out 2 Games

["Josh Farber" <nbaj2k@home.com>]

I really wanted to see Pierce, Walker, and Brown play together, but it looks
like that's gonna be a little bit of a wait as now Brown has a groin pull.
I really hope this isn't the beginning of his injuries, because he's already
been injured a couple times in training camp.  I hope that stops when the
season starts!


Plus Battie is out for Friday

Josh
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.nba.com/celtics/notebook_001019.html
He's Baaa-aaack!
Paul Pierce participated fully in the daily Green and White scrimmages at
The Sports Authority Training Center on Thursday. Celtics Head Coach Rick
Pitino liked what he saw and thought Pierce could play in his first game of
the preseason Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.

 Pierce
"Paul looks great, he's playing competitive," Pitino said after the morning
session. "If he wants to go tomorrow, I'll let him go. Now he's played full
tilt, with full physical practice. When he wants to go I'll let him go."


Going For The Win
 The Celtics will begin a four-game road trip (in five days) as they travel
Thursday night to Rockford, Illinois. Pitino and his staff are looking to
send the Celtics into the regular season on a winning streak.

"We're going to play the lineup that could win the game," said Pitino.
"We're going to coach as if we're trying to win, not to just look at talent.
We didn't really care the first few games, we just wanted to work on our
execution."

Brown, Battie Suffer Setbacks
 Brown
Randy Brown, who was the sparkplug in the Celtics win over Atlanta, won't
face his former Chicago Bulls team - he's listed as doubtful for Friday
night's game at the Rockford Metro Centre.

"I think he'll miss two games, he's hurt." Pitino said. "He thought it was
just a minor thing but it's a groin pull." Pitino said.

Also injured is Tony Battie. He is also doubtful for tomorrow's game but is
likely to play against the Wizards on Saturday night.

 Battie
But with Pierce ready to play, Pitino knows the Celtics will be a tougher
team and can be more competitive with him in the lineup against Chicago,
Washington, and Orlando.

"There's no question we're a much better basketball team with Paul at every
phase of the game," said Pitino. "He helps our offense, he helps our defense
and helps our rebounding.

"I think the team that's playing the best in the exhibition season is the
Orlando Magic. So we get a chance to face them twice. The Wizards are
playing hard basketball, Chicago is playing competitive basketball, so we'll
get a good measuring stick."