The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Paul Pierce looks good in a suit, but hopefully it will be a long, long time before we again see him so well-dressed.

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “Ray Allen on the Celtics’ 24-8 record, tied with Cleveland (27-9) for best in the Eastern Conference: ‘We don’t worry about it. We figure we’re the best team, the team to beat. So every day we’re trying to figure out how to get better, and I think over the course of the season, getting healthy is part of it. Everybody’s got aches and pains, nicks and bruises. We all deal with it, so that’s part of it.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald - “Pierce attempted to dispel any notion that he is rushing back because the team is shorthanded. ‘Not at all,’ he said. “I’m coming back because I feel good. You know Kevin (Garnett is) going to be out, and maybe Rondo will play, I don’t know for sure. But I don’t feel pressure at all to come back out here. I wouldn’t do that to myself. I would do that to my body at this point in my career. I’m just a little stronger. I’ve tried to work on my quads, my calves, getting all of those things stronger. If you don’t get that flexibility, your muscles shut down. Strength in those areas takes pressure off.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely – “If there’s a positive to all these injuries, it is that it’s afforded a number of seldom-used players or players with limited roles, a chance to play more. Offseason surgery coupled with the arrival of Marquis Daniels, was supposed to make Tony Allen a non-factor this season. But injuries have elevated him to being one of the team’s most important players.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “On a day when Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo returned to the practice floor – both with the goal of playing tonight against the Heat in Miami – Kendrick Perkins and Eddie House didn’t even show up. Both flu-ridden teammates remained in their respective beds. Perkins later was on time for the team flight to Miami. House, according to coach Doc Rivers an almost certain scratch for tonight’s game, stayed home. ‘They’re both home in bed,’ said Rivers, who returned to the team yesterday after leaving to tend to a family matter on Monday. ‘Right now Perk will be able to get on the flight, and it doesn’t look like Eddie will make the trip.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Kendrick Perkins currently stands at nine technical fouls after the league recently rescinded one called against Boston’s center during a Nov. 14 loss in Indiana (Doc Rivers previously had a technical foul from that game rescinded). News of the technical rescind was first reported by Comcast’s A. Sherrod Blakely. Perkins was optimistic last week that two technical fouls he received on the team’s three-game western road trip last month might also be rescinded; Perkins pleaded his case to NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson. ”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.