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.

The Ticket Stub is fired up for Game Two. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald - “Davis’ role was reduced this season because of injury and the addition of Rasheed Wallace to the frontcourt. However, he made an impact Saturday, collecting all of his eight points and seven of his eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. ‘When different circumstances are up on the platter, some people rise to the challenge, some people don’t,’ Davis said. ‘It’s playoff time. The three months that I took off with the (thumb) injury, no matter how much games you play, you’re still behind. Playoff time, I feel like I have a lot of games under my belt and hopefully I can get back in that same groove. You just have to go out there and play with confidence.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics likely will start Rasheed Wallace at power forward in Garnett’s absence. Davis, who filled in for Garnett a year ago when a knee injury ended Garnett’s season, also likely will see his role increase. Pierce was confident the rest of the team would respond with Garnett out. ‘We know we can hold down the fort if KG is out a game,’ Pierce said. ‘We’re not one of those teams that when the star player goes down that’s an excuse to not play hard, not try to win the game, and just be happy to come away with a close game. We’re a team that feels like with KG, without KG, we’re supposed to win a game. That’s our job, and that’s our mind-set.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “Instead of criticizing, maybe it’s safer to just adjust our expectations. Take Saturday night, for example: Garnett finished 15 points and 9 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. And a lot of people will look at those numbers and think, ‘Wow, 15 and 9 for KG!? That’s a great game! He’s coming around!’ But do you realize that there were only 10 times during the entire 2007-08 season (91 games, including playoffs) when Garnett was held to 15 points or less AND 9 rebounds or less on the same night? Back then, 15 and 9 was a disappointment. Now it’s inspiring, or better. And, in reality, for 99 percent of NBA players, 15 and nine is solid. Which at this point, is just what Kevin Garnett has become.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Celtics coach Doc Rivers sounded more like a lawyer than a doctor. He had finally seen the evidence from the night before, footage of his all-star forward Kevin Garnett caught in wave of chaos in front of the Miami Heat bench. He defended Garnett, who found himself in the situation after trying to protect a fallen Paul Pierce and wound up in an altercation with Quentin Richardson. But what struck Rivers was Quentin Richardson was there to begin with. ‘He had no business over there,’ Rivers said. ‘We had a guy on the floor injured. There was no reason for him to be there. And then, going by all reports, not only just the crowding, but it was the taunting. You’ve got a guy injured on the floor, I don’t think you should be standing over him [telling him] to get up and I can’t even use the words he used.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘No, not at all,’ Garnett said when asked if he had any regrets. ‘Not at all.’ ‘Not at all,’ he went on. ‘Not at all. And I would hope that if I was hurt or if I was down in the position (that Pierce was in), someone would at least give me some space to sort of recover or to gather myself. That’s the only thing I was asking for – nothing more, nothing less than that.’ But Richardson took a verbal shot at Pierce’s injury history and histrionics, which earned him a face-to–face confrontation with Garnett. ‘You know what? I just thought what he did was classless,’ KG said. ‘And obviously my concern was with Paul. Nothing more, nothing less than that. That’s what it is, man. I really don’t have any beef with nobody on that team. I think it’s being flared up more than what it is. It is what it is, and it’s over. Nothing to go back and forth on. Listen, man, I would do that if it was Doc (Rivers), somebody I cared about. I was taught to help your teammate, and that’s what it is.’ Garnett didn’t let himself entirely off the hook in a conversation with the C’s. ‘I apologized for it, but like Doc said, sometimes even when you’re right you’re wrong,’ Garnett said. ‘And in a situation like that was, totally classless, you keep it moving. It’s nothing to be going back and forth with.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “That hasn’t necessarily been the case between Pierce and Richardson, who have a long history of taunting each other. ‘It’s just been nothing but talk, man, truthfully,’ Pierce said. ‘I don’t even get into that he-say, she-say thing. That stuff is all for y’all to sell papers. I’m just going to continue to play basketball.’ He understands that even petty rivalries will be magnified in these times. ‘This is it,” Pierce said. ‘There’s only 16 teams left and everybody’s fighting for one thing. So you’ve got to expect that tensions are going to rise. But the thing is just keep it in the framework of the game to where it doesn’t get out of hand. But you’ve got to understand it’s going to get edgy at times, because we’re all fighting for one thing and only one team can have it.’ And Pierce may have taken a bit of a shot at Richardson and all but one of his Heat teammates. ‘I don’t know if I learned anything different,’ he said when asked what he had gleaned from the series opener. ‘I mean, they’re pretty much a team built around Dwyane Wade. That’s who they are. You’ve got to slow down Dwyane Wade. You can’t let him have a spectacular night. If you do, you’re in for a long series, a long night. You’ve got to expect them to make adjustments to free him up a little more, get him the ball a lot more in situations where you can’t double-team him. So it’s just going to be up to us when they make the adjustment for us to make that adjustment, because you know as I know that as he goes, they go.’”

Chris Perkins, Miami Herald – “Center Jermaine O’Neal, who was 3 of 14 from the field in Game 1 and scored only eight points, said he watched ‘at least two hours’ of video from the game and was up until 5 a.m. Sunday. ‘My mother, my brother, even some old teammates that I played with in Indiana texted me and said I looked a little quicker than normal, not really being patient on the moves, trying to force the move before the defense cleared out,’ O’Neal said. ‘Those are all the things I looked at and I worked on [Sunday]. I worked on spacing, worked on me reading the defense and making moves, so I feel very positive my rhythm will be better.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Saturday night’s game was eerily similar to the three regular-season meetings, when the Heat executed until the final quarter. Figuring out their issues sounded more important to the Heat than celebrating Garnett’s suspension. ‘It was a free game for us to try to win,’ Dwyane Wade said. ‘They have home-court advantage. We had opportunities and we let it slip, just like we let the other three in the regular season. It’s about finding a way to get over the hump. The game is coming down to the third and fourth quarters. That’s how it’s going to continue to be.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “Garnett has apologized to his teammates but said he does not regret his actions in Game 1. He believes emotions can help the Celtics, as long as they don’t spiral out of control. ‘I think we need to play with emotion, to be honest with you,’ Garnett said. ‘I think emotion is a sense of passion. Playing at home, [we] definitely have to defend home court. I think that’s important. I think we need to come out and play with that same energy. We know our schemes, we know what we’re doing, and continue to be aggressive.’ He added, ‘I wouldn’t say [emotions are] good or bad; it’s when you let your emotions get the best of you. I can say that. Situations to where you have to sort of bite down a little bit and understand what the situation is, in that sense. But it’s an emotional game, it’s a very, very high intensity game. Everybody’s playing with those same emotions. Both sides are playing fiery basketball, and it’s aggressive. So at some point you have to be in control of yourself.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Rivers said there is one reason [Tony] Allen is back in the rotation. ‘Defense,’ the coach said. ‘He’s accepted that role. He’s a stopper. He’s accepted the role of being the backup point guard at times, as well. He tries not to do too much, even though sometimes he can’t help himself. You just have to breathe through those moments. But he’s playing hard, and it’s showing.’ Allen has embraced his role. ‘From Day 1 when I got here, it was said, ‘Paul Pierce is our scorer, we need a defender. Do you want that job, yes or no?’ ‘ Allen said. ‘I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “In the wake of the Celtics-Heat dust-up in Saturday’s Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series, Chicago’s Joakim Noah sounded off on Kevin Garnett Sunday, calling him a ‘dirty player’ and complaining that, ‘he’s always swinging elbows.’ When those comments got back to Boston, Celtics coach Doc Rivers could only laugh. ‘Noah? Noah’s in this series now?’ Rivers jokingly asked. ‘I have no comment. If Noah had said that last year [when the Bulls and Celtics met in the postseason], I would have had a comment, but since he’s in Clevleand and dealing with that, I think I’ll let him focus on [Shaquille O'Neal] and that group right now.’”

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