Doc Rivers has three years remaining on a five-year extension. (Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Doc Rivers gave Celtics fans reason for pause after saying he would ponder his future in the weeks after the team’s loss to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge put the issue to rest Thursday when he said the coach who led the Celtics to the 2007-08 NBA title and 2009-10 Finals would return for the 2013-14 season, according to the Boston Globe.

Rivers has three seasons remaining on a contract extension signed two years ago.

Rivers was absent from the NBA Draft Combine due to a strained hamstring suffered while playing tennis last Sunday, but Ainge said Rivers will continue to be a big part of the team’s future.

From the Globe:

“Yeah (he’ll be back), Doc and I are talking about our team next year,” Ainge said. “(No suspense) from my perspective. We’ve got a great coach. We’ve got a coach everybody would love to have and he’s got three years left on his contract and I think Doc likes Boston, too.Coaches get tired, though. It’s a hard job.

“You guys are the only one (who made it an issue).”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers defended Kevin Garnett on Thursday after his confrontation with Carmelo Anthony Monday. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers defended Kevin Garnett on Thursday, telling a Boston radio station that reports about Garnett insulting Carmelo Anthony by including a dig at his relationship with his wife were not true.

“Well, No. 1, I know what’s been reported did not happen,” Rivers told the Boston station WEEI, according to ESPN. “I know that as a fact.”

Pressed further on Garnett’s rumored remarks, Rivers said: “That did not happen.”

Anthony was suspended one game after he and Garnett were in a chippy mood during Monday night’s contest between the Celtics and Knicks. Both received technical fouls as tempers flared in the fourth quarter of a game in which Anthony struggled and shot only 6 of 26 from the field.

After the game’s final horn sounded, Anthony left the floor through the Celtics’ tunnel at Madison Square Garden. He was reportedly waiting for Garnett outside the Celtics locker room and was restrained by teammates and some security. Later, he waited for Garnett outside by the Celtics’ team bus with multiple security guards and five NYPD officers.

On Tuesday, Anthony said that some of Garnett’s trash-talking during the game had crossed a line. The New York Post reported that it was a comment about Anthony’s wife that set him off.

”There’s certain things that you just don’t say to men, another man,” Anthony said. ”I felt like we crossed a line, but like I said, we both have an understanding right now, we handled it the way we handled it. Nobody needs to know what was said behind closed doors, so that situation was handled.”

But Rivers dismissed both the reports and Anthony’s insistence that he didn’t deserve a suspension, saying that Anthony was trying to move the blame to Garnett.

“Guys, you know how this works,” Rivers said. “A guy does something crazy like Carmelo did, and the way to get out of trouble is to say, ‘Well, he said this.’ It happens all the time, and what bugs me about this whole thing is this is not a Kevin Garnett issue. And it was made into one, and it shouldn’t have been made into one.”

Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett got confrontational during and after the Knicks and Celtics clashed Monday night. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

A testy night between Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and Celtics forward Kevin Garnett reportedly ended with Anthony waiting out near the Celtics’ bus to exchange words with Garnett.

Anthony and Garnett got chippy with each other during the Celtics’ 102-96 win over the Knicks on Monday. Both received technical fouls as tempers flared in the fourth quarter of a game in which Anthony struggled and shot only 6 of 26 from the field.

After the game’s final horn sounded, Anthony left the floor through the Celtics’ tunnel at Madison Square Garden. He was reportedly waiting for Garnett outside the Celtics locker room and was restrained by teammates and some security, MSG Network reported (via Newsday).

Neither Knicks coach Mike Woodson or Celtics coach Doc Rivers would comment on that incident when asked by reporters.

“As the game wore on, we just let things get to us a little bit. We can’t let that happen,” Woodson said.

But Anthony wasn’t done trying to get a word — and maybe more — in with Garnett. The New York Daily News’ Frank Isola reported that Anthony went outside the arena and waited for Garnett by the Celtics’ team bus. Anthony drew the attention of Woodson, MSG security and five NYPD officers to diffuse any situation, Isola reported.

Here is Isola’s stream of tweets on the circumstances:

Carmelo Anthony waited for Kevin Garnett near the Celtics team bus, an eyewitness tells the Daily News.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 8, 2013

Five NYPD officers, MSG security and Mike Woodson were near the bus to make sure the scene did not get out of control, the New has learned.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 8, 2013

According to the eyewitness, Garnett didn’t understand why Carmelo was waiting for him near the bus.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 8, 2013

Mike Woodson played a big role in making sure that Carmelo left peacefully. Garnett wasn’t looking for trouble and got on the bus.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 8, 2013

Comcast SportsNet New England has video of Anthony waiting for Garnett near the Celtics’ bus.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers and guard Rajon Rondo disagreed with Dwyane Wade’s calling Rondo’s flagrant foul in Tuesday’s season-opener a “punk play.”

Rondo was called for a flagrant foul 1 after hooking Wade around the neck and shoulder as the Heat star drove to the basket in Miami’s 120-107 win.

“I got my kids watching so I stopped myself but it was a punk play by him,” said Wade, via ESPN. “He clotheslined me.”

Appearing Thursday on Boston sports radio WEEI, Rivers noted that Wade has “given a lot of hard fouls” in his career and pointed out that Rondo’s gruesome elbow injury during the 2011 playoffs was “created by Dwyane Wade.”

Added Rivers: “I don’t think [Rondo's flagrant] was a ‘punk’ move unless [Wade's foul] was, too.”

At practice on Thursday, Rondo said Wade added some drama to help draw a flagrant call on a hard foul.

“I mean, I don’t think it was a hard foul,” said Rondo. “[Wade] sold it a little bit, and that’s basketball. They were up, he drove to the hole, I didn’t want to give up a layup. Simple as that. I didn’t yank him down, or dirty plays that you’ve seen him play in the past. So that’s what it is.”

The Celtics and the Heat continue their rivalry tomorrow night in the season opener for both teams. (Steve Babineau/Getty Images)

The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the NBA champion Miami Heat is already tense and Celtics coach Doc Rivers added fuel to the fire by saying the Heat aren’t defending anything because it’s a new season. The Celtics open the 2012 season against the Heat in Miami on Tuesday night.

“I never believed that anybody is ever defending a title, because that was last year,” Rivers said to ESPN.com. “They don’t own the trophy this year. That’s what I tell our guys: Miami isn’t considered anything. They won the title last year. You don’t give your trophy back — that’s in boxing, where you get the belt back, that’s defending the title. In the NBA, you win a new title.”

Some Celtics also were in no mood to talk about former Celtic guard Ray Allen. Allen signed a free agent deal with the Heat after last season.  Allen was offered twice as much money as the Heat did to stay in Boston, according to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. The Celtics also included a no-trade clause to the contract.

“I’m here to play the game and get the hell up out of here,” forward Kevin Garnett said when asked about Allen. “Period, point blank.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers thinks the NBA’s 90-second rule is too short and doesn’t provide enough time to draw up a play before opening tipoff. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

A lot of players are unhappy with the NBA’s renewed enforcement of the 90-second rule, and now Celtics coach Doc Rivers has expressed his dissatisfaction, according to USA Today:

“I don’t like it. I think it’s too quick. I think it’s too rushed.”

The rule stipulates that teams must be ready for the opening tipoff 90 seconds after player introductions; the idea is to get games started on time. The rule has been in place for years but was rarely acknowledged, and elaborate pregame rituals ensued.

Rivers had thoughts on an alternative solution:

“To me, if you really want to do something, shorten the intros, where we have all the dancing and music,” Rivers said. “If they want to get the game started, shorten that for a minute and give the players an extra minute.”

He proposed lengthening the timeframe to two or even 2 ½ minutes to give coaches enough time to draw up a play.

“I don’t think they factor in the coach actually has to draw up a play first, and then guys break. I hope that will be changed a little bit,” said Rivers. ”It makes the first play that you draw up before the game almost silly…. Guys are more focused on running out on the floor.”

Rookie Jared Sullinger may start for the Celtics. (Roberto Serra/Iguana Press/Getty Images)

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted that the team could see three “transitional” starting lineups at certain points this season and, according to The Boston Herald, one of them would feature rookie Jared Sullinger, the once-highly-touted forward out of Ohio State who slipped to the No. 21 pick in the NBA Draft because of lingering back problems.

Rivers said Sullinger is one of the Celtics’ best rebounders, thinks like a veteran and is a great passer, and point guard Rajon Rondo called him the smartest rookie that he’s seen in his seven years with the Celtics. But Rivers cautioned against reading into the possibility of Sullinger starting as anything more than an experiment:

“I’m going to try it a couple of games,” Rivers said of Sullinger starting, “and then I’ll throw Brandon in and I’ll throw Darko in a couple times. So you can read into it whatever you want, but there’s been no decisions made on anything now.”

In a recent trip overseas, Sullinger played in two games against Turkey, tallying 25 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes.

The Celtics’ presumed starting lineup was Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass in the frontcourt, Paul Pierce at small forward, the newly acquired Courtney Lee at shooting guard while Avery Bradley rehabs and Rondo running the point.

The Celtics’ Avery Bradley could be shelved until January. (Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley likely won’t return until late December or January at the earliest, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers told ESPN.com’s Jackie MacMullan in an interview published Monday.

“Not even close,” Rivers said of Bradley’s return from two separate offseason shoulder surgeries. “I don’t like to put a time limit on injuries, but I don’t think you’ll see him before December — and there’s a chance it could be closer to January.”

Rivers’ prognosis is markedly different from what the Celtics publicly and privately gave earlier this summer. In July, a source told ESPN that Bradley might be ready to return by the start of Celtics training camp in September. And Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge also said then that Bradley likely wouldn’t be out any longer than two months.

“We know there’s a possibility that Avery won’t be able to play the first month of the season,” Ainge told CSNNE.com. “So we have to be prepared for that. You never know how these things play out; will it be a month? Or two months? I don’t think it’ll be much longer than that, or he could be back sooner. You try to build a roster where you can get by with any injury, that can sustain you through a short period of time.”

Bradley last played for the Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s one of Boston’s best perimeter defenders.

As insurance, Boston signed guards Jason Terry from the Dallas Mavericks and Courtney Lee from the Houston Rockets this offseason.

Doc Rivers endorsed Doug Collins as the next coach of the men’s Olympic basketball team. (Steve Babineau/Getty Images)

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins received the endorsement of Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers to lead U.S. basketball to gold in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, according to Comcast Sportsnet.

Mike Krzyzewski confirmed after winning gold on Sunday that London would be his last coaching stint.

Rivers said Collins would be best suited for the job in part because Collins was on the 1972 team that lost gold to the Soviet Union at the Olympics in Munich.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Rivers are front runners to replace Krzyzewski. Rivers said that no one should turn down the opportunity to coach at the Olympic level, and that if he is given the opportunity, he will make sure Collins is on the team as an assistant coach.

With Mike Krzyzewski stepping down as USA Basketball coach, the top reported candidates to replace him include Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images)

Mike Krzyzewski has said he will step down after Team USA won its second consecutive Olympic gold medal with him leading the way as head coach. And it appears that Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich are two leading candidates to replace Krzyzewski on the bench, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported Sunday. From Stein’s report:

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich have indeed already moved to the top of the list to take over in 2013 for Krzyzewski, who is expected to remain with the program as a top aide to Colangelo if he can’t be convinced to extend his coaching tenure.

Sources say Louisville coach Rick Pitino has also expressed strong interest in the position, but the general expectation in USAB circles is that Krzyzewski will be succeeded by an NBA coach.

Nevertheless, program chairman Jerry Colangelo and USA players plan to try to convince Krzyzewski to stick around for one more shot.

“I’m sure we can get him to come back,” Kevin Durant told Stein. But Colangelo wasn’t as optimistic.

“Chances are not,” he said. But we’ll have to have that conversation on an official basis. He’s said this is it and I’ll respect his choice. But knowing me as I know me, I’ll have that conversation and we’ll see.”

Doc Rivers said that not even the pursuit of Olympic gold can compare to the road to winning an NBA championship. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Doc Rivers won’t shy away from his feelings towards winning Olympic gold. The opportunity is something coaches might use as a recruiting tactic, but at least for the men’s U.S. basketball team, it’s the NBA championship that should matter most.

Rivers told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that winning the gold medal and trying to win it gets confused as one in the same, and that while representing your country is the highest honor, there’s nothing quite like the pursuit of an NBA ring:

“I’m as patriotic as anybody, but I would rather win the NBA championship than a gold medal,” Rivers said. “But winning a gold medal – and trying to win a gold medal – is a completely different feeling, and there’s no feeling like it.

He remembers being 0-13 in his pursuit of a ring as a player, and when he finally won it all as head coach of the Boston Celtics in 2008, not even the idea of winning Olympic gold as a player was enough to compare to that road towards becoming an NBA champion, even as a coach:

[W]hen you’re in the NBA it’s a yearly process. Think about me: I was 0-13 in my playing career, got close a couple times. It becomes a desperate pursuit to win it. After a few more years as a coach, after nearly 20 years in the league, I finally win. There’s no pursuit like that.

Kobe Bryant probably wouldn’t trade an NBA ring for any of his golds, Rivers said, just as men’s U.S. Olympic basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski wouldn’t trade his four NCAA Championship rings that he won as coach of the Duke Blue Devils. It’s a matter of weeks in the Olympics versus months if not years for NBA coaches, he said:

“When you try to win the Olympics, you make a team and it’s a much shorter pursuit over several weeks. It’s still great, but I would guarantee you that Coach K would take the NCAA championships first. The players who say ‘I’d take the gold medal’ have never won an NBA championship.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers says he was more to blame for Ray Allen’s departure than Rajon Rondo. (Issac Baldizon/Getty Images)

When Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics for the Miami Heat this offseason, many believed that his tension with point guard Rajon Rondo led to his departure.

But Celtics coach Doc Rivers took the blame in an interview with Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski.

“People can use all the Rondo stuff – and it was there, no doubt about that – but it was me more than Rondo,” Rivers told Wojnarowski. “I’m the guy who gave Rondo the ball. I’m the guy who decided that Rondo needed to be more of the leader of the team. That doesn’t mean guys liked that – and Ray did not love that – because Rondo now had the ball all the time.

“Think about everything [Allen] said when he left. ‘I want to be more of a part of the offense.’ Everything was back at Rondo. And I look at that and say, ‘That’s not Rondo’s fault.’ That’s what I wanted Rondo to do, and that’s what Rondo should’ve done. Because that’s Rondo’s ability. He’s the best passer in the league. He has the best feel in the league. He’s not a great shooter, so he needs the ball in his hands to be effective. And that bothered Ray.

“And not starting [games] bothered Ray. I did examine it, and the conclusion I came back to was this: By doing the right things, we may have lost Ray. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve been a hypocrite. In the opening speech I make every year, I tell the team: ‘Every decision I make is going to be what’s good for the team, and it may not be what’s good for the individual.’ ”

Rivers also said that, unlike fans, it didn’t bother him that Allen chose to sign with one of Boston’s rivals.

“I could care less he went there,” Rivers said. “And that’s a fact. With the fans, I know it was: How could he go to Miami? But once he decided he didn’t want to stay with us, he has the right to wherever he wants.”

Doc Rivers and Celtics management couldn’t convince Ray Allen to stay in Boston (Nathaniel S. Butler, Getty Images)

In the wake of shooting guard Ray Allen’s imminent departure to the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers has come out in defense of his team’s efforts to re-sign the 3-point marksman.

Speaking to the Boston Herald, Rivers insisted that the Celtics did everything in their power the keep Allen, while insinuating that Allen may have been frustrated that the team sought out a Kevin Garnett extension first.

“Kevin Garnett was our focal point, and he should have been. If that got anyone ruffled, then that’s probably too bad. We did everything we were supposed to do. At the end of the day you just follow the money trail, and in this case, for whatever reason, it didn’t work. He had his reasons. He probably got bent sideways a bit by us courting Kevin. I really don’t know, honestly.”

Allen elected to sign with the Miami Heat – the Celtics’ eastern Conference rival – last week, creating a glaring hole at shooting guard in Boston.

Doc Rivers will have his cell phone on him Thursday night as he sits with his son, Austin, in New York. (Jim Rogash, Getty Images)

The Boston Celtics have the 21st, 22nd and 51st picks in Thursday’s NBA Draft, and team general manager Danny Ainge will have to make the selections without his head coach in the team draft room.

Ainge told the Associated Press that Doc Rivers will not be spending draft night with the Celtics, but rather will travel to New York to be with his son, former Duke shooting guard Austin Rivers.

“He’s heading to New York with Austin,” Ainge said Wednesday, “which is where he should be.”

Rivers will be by his phone all night as the Celtics prepare to add to their roster. This offseason has great importance for the 17-time world champions since they only have four players — Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley and JaJuan Johnson — under contract for next season.

The younger Rivers is projected to be an early- to mid-first round pick, although some have him going as high as No. 6 to Portland. Last year, he averaged 15.5 points on 43 percent shooting as the only freshman on the All-ACC first team.

Diehard Boston Celtics fan Manny Pacquiao had a dilemma once his team dropped Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat on Thursday. But promoter Bob Arum has resolved his fighter’s conundrum.

Arum issued a statement on Friday that the Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley welterweight championship fight Saturday night in Las Vegas won’t start until the conclusion of Game 7 of Heat-Celtics.

“I’m not waiting for Manny’s request on this one. We will not begin the Pacquiao–Bradley main event fight until the Celtics and the Heat finish their playoff game. Now Manny, the Heat, the Celtics, and sports fans watching the basketball game won’t have to make a choice between events — they will be able to watch both.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers was flattered. “He’s a Celtics fan. What do you expect?” Rivers said, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “Pretty cool, though. That’s cool.”

The Boston Celtics received five technical fouls Monday in their Game 1 loss to the Miami Heat, and coach Doc Rivers was not happy with the whistles against his team.

Rivers received one of the technicals for complaining about a call. He told CSNNE.com‘s A. Sherrod Blakely that his technical wasn’t deserved.

“I know mine wasn’t. I can tell you that much. I don’t know how long I’ve been in the league, but that has to rank as the worst I’ve ever had. I would have loved to earn it.”

The video above shows three of the technicals, against Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rivers. The call against Garnett came for delay of game after he touched the ball after a made basket. Boston had already received a warning.

Rajon Rondo also received a technical, and the team received a technical for defensive three-seconds.

The names of two of the referees, Danny Crawford and Ed Malloy, trended on Twitter during the game.

“Everybody has to keep their composure,” Rivers said. “Not just the players and the coaches.”

Paul Pierce is already talking about the uncertainty that lies ahead for the Boston Celtics after this season, while Doc Rivers just wants to focus on the task at hand. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics small forward and arguably the most visible face for the franchise since Larry Bird, hinted Monday that this could be the last stand for an aging core that includes himself, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo. Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports reported on Monday that Pierce wonders if this will be his last opportunity to play with the current roster:

Paul Pierce believes this could be the last stand for the current Celtics. “Who knows if we’re going to get this opportunity again? Who knows what they’re going to do with the team next year?’’

This mindset is a stark contrast from the mentality Celtics coach Doc Rivers is trying to instill during these playoffs, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski following the Celtics series-clinching win Saturday night in Boston against the Philadelphia 76′ers. According to Wojnarowski, Rivers said he won’t use that speculative, what-happens-next type of talk around his players at this juncture and is more focused on the task at hand, which right now is preparing for  Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat on Monday night:

When you start thinking about breaking something up, retiring, then you’re thinking about the end and not the present. And I think that this team needs to be in the now, with each other. We don’t know what will happen next year, but I just think that it’s important that this team thinks about trying to win now – not because this may be it. Because when you start thinking that way, you let go of the rope.”

The Boston Celtics are heading into a big playoff-preview game tonight, up against an Atlanta Hawks team they’ll likely face next week in the first round of the postseason. But apparently they’re not taking it seriously — coach Doc Rivers is resting his starters, according to Comcast SportsNet.

#CelticsTalk: #Celtics Rondo, Allen and Pietrus are not playing 2nite. Doc said he "probably" wasn't going to play KG and PP, either.

—
A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) April 20, 2012

Rajon Rondo (sore back), Ray Allen (sore ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (sore knee) are all injury scratches for the C’s tonight; Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, however, are perfectly healthy but likely to sit anyway.

If they indeed sit all five veteran stars, the Celtics’ most likely starting five consists of guards Avery Bradley and Keyon Dooling, forwards Sasha Pavlovic and Brandon Bass, and center Greg Stiemsma.

The Celtics are currently 37-26, half a game behind the Hawks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. A loss tonight likely means the C’s open the postseason on the road next weekend.

Boston Celtics swingman Mikael Pietrus is still suffering from a fall that happened last month against the Philadelphia 7634s. Head coach Doc Rivers told ESPN on Sunday that he is likely “going to be out a while.”

Rivers said that Pietrus suffered a Grade III concussion, and the timetable for his return is still uncertain. He could potentially be sidelined for the rest of the season.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he played next week (and) I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see him,” Rivers said. “I just don’t know. With that injury, I don’t think anyone really knows now.”

“It’s just great to see him. I don’t think anybody has seen him since the injury. It will be great to have him in the locker room. He’s texting me a lot now, which is great, and that’s terrific that he’s able to do that. Again, we haven’t even started the (concussion) tests. He’s going to be out a while.”

Pietrus suffered the injury when he crashed hard to the floor March 23 during the second quarter of the Celtics’ 99-86 loss in Philadelphia. He was immobilized and taken from the court on a stretcher where he was reportedly coughing up blood.

Pietrus was starting in place of yet another injured Celtics’ guard, Ray Allen, is out with a sore left ankle. This season he has contributed 6.8 points, 0.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds.