The calm before the storm

Literally and figuratively, the Celtics have been preparing for the a big storm. First, they flew down to Miami yesterday in order to avoid any trouble with Hurricane Sandy. The team made it safely down to Miami and is now making its final preparations for tomorrow's showdown. Some news and notes...

*The Celtics had their annual practice for the season ticket holders at the TD Garden on Sunday. Doc Rivers and his staff used the hour-and-a-half session as a real practice instead of just a scrimmage with their first game being so close. This practice is usually held earlier in the preseason, but the change worked out well as they ran through their sets and entertained the crowd with a 5-on-5 scrimmage to wrap things up. At the end of the session, a few players and Rivers addressed the crowd. Doc got the crowd fired up by starting the "Beat the Heat" chant as the team left the floor, and it spread quickly through the lower bowl.

*Rivers felt that practicing in front of a crowd was another positive for the C's."I actually like the fact that there was a crowd," said Rivers. "We hadn’t seen one in a while. Maybe that’ll help."

*We are less than 30 hours away from tip-off, and Rivers still has not given tipped his hand as to who the starting five will be."It is what is is," Rivers said. "Someone’s going to start. It’s the four guys and, like I said, every night -- not every night -- but we’ll have three different lineups. Jeff Green will start in some different games, Brandon will start some games and Sullinger will start some games." Rivers said on Friday that the players set in stone are the "Big Three" of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. He also mentioned that these three will include some combination Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass, and Jared Sullinger. On Sunday, Courtney Lee and Brandon Bass spent a lot of time with the first unit, which could be a sign of things to come.

*Right about now would be the time for your daily Ray Allen vs. the Celtics fix....if there was one. At least no one on the Celtics wanted any part of talking about Allen on Monday morning. Pierce and Garnett offered their feelings on the whole thing.“I don’t have a take on him,” Garnett said. “I’m here to the play the game and get the hell up out of here, point blank.” Pierced chimed in,“We’re not going to make this into a Ray Allen vs. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett or Rondo thing. Right now my focus is playing against the Miami Heat. Everything has already happened. He’s here, he’s happy to be here, you wish him the best for his family.”

*Although it is not official, it is expected that the Celtics will remain in the locker room during the ring/banner-raising ceremony. Rivers said yesterday that he is still undecided. When asked if he would make them watch it in an effort to motivate them, Rivers quickly shot that notion down. "If I have to use [the ring ceremony], then there’s something wrong with our guys," said Rivers. "I don’t think I need to use it as anything to fire our guys up. Listen, we gotta be fired up for 82 games, and not one." Count Rondo and Jeff Green among those who don't want to watch it, too. It'll be interesting to see what they do.

Lastly -- but certainly not least -- everyone please be safe during this storm. Stay inside and get yourselves ready for tomorrow night. Check back in tomorrow for a preview, notes from shootaround, and any other news there is to report. Nonetheless, stay tuned at all times. By the way, we're getting warmer.