The elbow "injury" didn't affect Lebron too much in round one.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the update on Lebron James’ elbow.

Though Lebron will be examined by team doctors before practice Thursday, and it is possible he will be held out of contact as a precaution, neither the team nor James believes he will miss any games.

It is possible James will get a second MRI at some point this week after he experienced numbness and soreness in his elbow during Game Five against the Chicago Bulls. After making the first of two free throws in the final moments right-handed, James shot the second one left-handed after feeling what looked to be intense pain. He said he would have shot the free throw with his right hand had Cleveland’s lead still been only one possession.

Now I’ll let Windhorst bring it in.

Doctors haven’t found anything significantly wrong with James’ elbow, though it has bothered him on and off for nearly a month. Most of the time, James said, he isn’t in any discomfort. But occasionally after it is hit, he will experience numbness and stinging pain. That is what happened late in the game Tuesday.

“We’ll figure it out,” James said, not showing the least bit of worry. “We have the best docs in Cleveland.”

An MRI performed Monday at the Cleveland Clinic, a day after James briefly left the floor with elbow soreness in Game 4 in Chicago, showed no serious damage. James has some swelling and has been wearing a protective sleeve for several weeks but doesn’t know how the injury happened.

While the injury continues to bother James, neither he nor the Cavs believe it will keep him out of games.

I don’t expect James to miss any games. If he has proved nothing else over his career, it’s that he’s an indestructible force who barely knows what injuries are. He said his elbow has been bothering him for the past month, and he’s been pretty incredible during that time and especially deadly against the Chicago Bulls in round one.

If you want to get into conspiracies and think Lebron will possibly miss a game, there is hope. He sat out quite a few games down the stretch, which everyone thought was for rest.

But maybe it was something more? Maybe it was to help heal an injured elbow?

I doubt it but, hey, ya never know.

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.

He doesn't look so bad, does he?

Chris Gasper, Boston Globe – “Essentially, what the Celtics have been presented is a do-over of the 2009 playoffs, but with Garnett a go and Cleveland standing in for Orlando. The team is virtually identical because the additions of Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson have had no impact. Last year, the Celtics were ousted in the second round by Orlando in seven games. If that happens at the hands of Cleveland this year, then their run has run its course, and they’re the 1991 Detroit Pistons, who coincidentally went 50-32, to LeBron’s Michael Jordan. We were hard on the Celtics because we expected so much of them, but now they’re in a position to finally fulfill those expectations. Bring on LeBron.”

Bill Livingston, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Hopes will have to wait that the Big Shillelagh will immediately break out the whuppin’ stick on the Boston Celtics, who begin their second-round series with the Cavs Saturday night at The Q. It was Celtic reserve Glen “Big Baby” Davis whose perfectly legal play on the ball led to Shaq’s torn thumb ligament — and whose tugging on the thumb afterward was both repulsive and typical of the Celtics. After the Bulls had been sent to their rooms, O’Neal fielded questions about Davis’ play with blandness. The two do share a background of playing for LSU, but old college ties mean nothing now. ‘Nothing bothers me,’ said the Big Serenity. ‘I don’t think [that the play was dirty]. I’m just glad I got my thumbs back. You need your thumbs. Your thumbs are very, very important.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Jamison averaged 19.3 points in Cleveland’s five-game first-round series against the Bulls, and he took nearly a third of his shots from 3-point range (7 of 23). He was spelled by Varejao, the sixth-year power forward who plays as if he’s never heard of inertia, making a living off hustle plays and feasting on the Celtics during the regular season by being quicker to get to open spots on the floor. It’s a matchup problem for the Celtics’ big men, who will have to flip the switch from guarding the post to jumping out to the perimeter, chasing Cleveland’s pseudo-bigs. Glen Davis put it this way: ‘Imagine if you had to bump Shaq [coming off a pick-and-roll] and then close out on Antawn Jamison when he just hit two in a row. Or with Rashard Lewis, you’ve got to bump Dwight [Howard] and get out to Rashard and force him left instead of right. You’re closing out to him and he can make you do anything he wants to, really. You’ve just got to have a feel for the game and just got to have a will to do a lot of things out there on guys like that.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “There is the Davis who made all of the hustle plays Tuesday night, from drawing two huge second-half charges on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem to grabbing most of the big rebounds down the stretch. And then there’s the young player who is still a little too intoxicated by the memory of his game-winning 20-footer in last May’s Game 4 in Orlando. That’s the player who doesn’t always make the extra pass. But he seems to be coming around. ‘He’s just got to stay there,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘We tell all of our players this: ‘You don’t need a parade out there every game. You’ve just got to continue to play. And then your body will work when it’s all said and done. Then you can have the festivities.’ And that’s Baby in a nutshell. He is so talented, and his IQ is ridiculous. It really is. But he lets up at times. He starts thinking about what he’s done well, instead of just keep playing. And he’s a young kid still. That’s the maturity part that is growing. And I think it’s getting better and better. He has proven over the long haul, though, that in big games he tends to play well. He did it in college and he’s done it here.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘I’ve maintained that I like this team,’ Rivers said. ‘You know, when we were struggling, no one wanted to hear that. I got that. I understood that, but I knew what I had, and I knew that my goal was to get them healthy. And if that meant . . . you know, I didn’t want to lose games, but you had to take that risk during the regular season. We had to choose health over anything, and I understood that. The first thing Erik (Spoelstra, the Miami coach) said was, ‘Boy, you had a hell of a fight trying to keep these guys healthy.’ And I said, ‘It was brutal.’ But it was the right move. It was. I mean, you had to. That’s our only chance. So now we’re healthy, we’re rested and we’re ready.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “”You definitely had your doubts at times because of the inconsistent play, injuries just seem to be mounting and mounting,” said Pierce, who was sidelined for 11 games this season. But he’s not griping. In fact, he embraces those times as moments that showcased this team’s character and resiliency. ‘The losing teams tend to point the finger, go to the media, says this guy need to do this better or do that better,’ Pierce said. ‘And we never held grudges with one another.’ Kevin Garnett also addressed some of the struggles Boston has endured this season, and it’s impact on the team moving forward. ‘If you want something to happen, you have to gather everybody and it’s a group effort,’ Garnett said. ‘But if you want something to work, you have to actually grab everybody, get everybody on the same page and work towards that goal.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA and the best player in the world on their roster. Of course this was the exact same scenario for the Cavs last season, and they ultimately lost to Orlando conference finals. General manager Danny Ferry bolstered his team with additions big (Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison) and small (Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon) and found improvement from within in young forward J.J. Hickson. Noted Celtic killer Anderson Varejao had the best season of his career, Mo Williams continued to shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range, effectively ending the necessity for Daniel Gibson to get playing time, and Delonte West re-emerged as a key third guard. Then, there is LeBron James, who has shattered the best player in the league argument and seems poised to truly rule the world if he can deliver a championship to his hometown team before engaging in the most frenzied free-agent courtship the league has ever known. Ah, but the Celtics have other ideas.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘My role since I’ve been here really hasn’t changed. I can just be a little bit more vocal now that I’ve been here for a while,’ Finley explained. ‘I just didn’t want to come here right away and be the loud mouth of the locker room. But now the guys feel a little more comfortable with me. I’m able to pull guys to the side, tell them different situations, especially in these playoff series that are important, not only to them, but to our team. And they’re listening and they’re being receptive, and that’s been good.’ The 37-year-old is happy to share the veteran wisdom he has accumulated over the last 15 years, and the C’s are just as happy to receive it. ‘Mike is big,’ said Ray Allen. ‘Most people don’t realize the things that he’s saying, just his advice, just some of the things that he says coming out of timeouts, coming to the bench. You can always tell he wants to win. Even though he came here later on in the season, he’s invested now in what we’re doing. So he’s always making sure, ‘Look for this, this is what’s going to go down,’ or, ‘Ray, you need to do this,’ or ‘Paul you need to make sure …’ So that’s great coming from the bench and you know that he’s fielding us more information so when we go out there, we’re prepared.’”

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – “Keep counting ‘em out, all you National Basketball Association experts. These Milwaukee Bucks will just keep fighting to the end. The Atlanta Hawks found that out the hard way on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the teams’ Eastern Conference series, as the Bucks got off the mat to grab a stunning 91-87 victory at Philips Arena. The Bucks have won three straight games against the third-seeded Hawks while taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series, and Milwaukee can eliminate Atlanta in Game 6, scheduled for Friday night at the Bradley Center. Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova showed his trademark hustle while grabbing offensive rebounds, and Milwaukee went on a dazzling 14-0 run in the final 4 minutes to erase an 82-73 deficit and end the Hawks’ 14-game home winning streak. ‘This is by far the biggest win of the season,’ said Bucks guard John Salmons. ‘We’ve still got business to take care of, so we’ve got to stay with it.’”

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “This was the Falcons blowing the lead against Danny White and Dallas in January 1981. This was Mark Wohlers hanging the slider to Jim Leyritz in October 1996. Only it wasn’t. It was worse. Those opponents were top-class. The Hawks just blew a 13-point lead and probably a playoff series to Milwaukee, which is a No. 6 seed missing its All-Star center. They trail 3-2 in a series they led 2-0. They face elimination on the road, a place they’ve won once in 11 tries over the past three postseasons. Yeah, theoretically they could still pull this out, but how can you win in the Bradley Center when you can’t hold a nine-point lead inside the final four minutes with the series lead on the line? How can you put this colossal choke — I hate that word, but it applies here — behind you? Up nine, and here’s what happened: Josh Smith missed a dunk by hitting the ball on the underside of the backboard; Jamal Crawford short-armed a layup, the first of his five misses down the stretch; the Hawks watched as Ersan Ilyasova grabbed every loose ball and Joe Johnson fouled out on a charge. Nine points up with 3:55 left, the Hawks saw the lead disappear in 116 seconds. I say again: One hundred sixteen seconds. There are no excuses for this game, this series. The team with the better players is the one with one foot out the exit door. The Bucks have two chances to win once. The Hawks are down to their final shot.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “Help? Melo got it. Selfish? Not the Nuggets, at least not this night. Game 6? A reality. For one night, all was right with the Nuggets, who played poised and possessed Wednesday during a 116-102 victory over Utah at the Pepsi Center. Overcoming the loss of Nene because of a knee injury, Denver forced Game 6 to be played Friday in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz leading the first-round playoff series 3-2. A source familiar with the situation said the Nuggets are fearful Nene tore the ACL in his left knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.”

J.A. Adande, ESPN – “Not only did Anthony receive the assistance from his teammates he all but Bat-signaled for from the dais last Sunday, he delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds. He managed to involve his teammates without too much dropoff of his own from his 39-point, 11-rebound Game 4. Sure the point total declined, but the number of turnovers also went from nine to one. A team official told Anthony he was as proud of him as he’d ever been after this game. If the Nuggets are going to exit the playoffs, apparently their disappearance won’t be traced back to Anthony. He already double his double-double total from all of last playoffs (anyone else craving In-N-Out Burger after that sentence?). And he’s put up a better resistance to elimination. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers last season, in what turned out to be the finale of his breakthrough playoffs, Anthony scored 25 points but shot only 35 percent and grabbed two rebounds.”

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

Unless they buy some sneakers, the Celtics won't be getting any Lebrons this summer.

Danny Ainge told WEEI it is highly unlikely — but not impossible — for the Boston Celtics to be players in the 2010 free agent class.

Ainge was asked if the Celtics had any chance of being a player with one of the marquee free agents this summer and said it would be doubtful but not out of the question. “The only way it would be possible would be a sign and trade, and that’s very unlikely. The only way we would be able to do it is if a player said, ‘I want to play in Boston, and I’m only going to play in Boston under any circumstances.’ … That team would have to believe that [the player was willing to sign for a midlevel exemption] and work out some sort of sign and trade to get that player more money.” Additionally, Ainge confirmed that the Celtics likely would have to entice the other team with a package of a player such as Ray Allen, with his huge contract, and a promising young player.

So first, Lebron James or Dwyane Wade or another star has to say, “Ya know what?  I know it’s cold up there.  I know Boston has been considered a racist place.  I know it’s snowy, and that the Celtics’ future doesn’t look too terrific.  But ya know what?  I don’t want to be anyplace else.”

It’s not happening.  Not a chance.  The Celtics are going to have to find some other way to rebuild or reload after this season.  Either that, or they’re going to have to find the fountain of youth.

I'm excited already.

The Boston Celtics dispatched the Miami Heat, and it was easier than expected.  All it took was five games to take down Dwyane Wade and the underachieving and untalented crew he calls teammates.

But it was always known, by everyone outside of Florida, that Boston would outlast the Heat.  While the series ended up being quicker than anticipated, the end result did nothing to alter the second-round collision course with Cleveland and its Kingdom.

If the Celtics are going to make noise in the 2010 playoffs — and don’t get it twisted, they’ve only made whispers so far — beating Lebron was always going to be a necessity.  But can the Celtics take him down?  Can they defeat the NBA’s best player and his improved supporting cast?  Can the Celtics do what two weeks ago was thought impossible and now, on the heels of the impressive first-round dismantling of Miami, remains firmly in the realm of unlikely?

“I think we have enough to win it all,” Paul Pierce stated in defiance of common belief.  But, with Lebron James on the other side — no matter what his damaged elbow is like — Pierce knows, “we have our work cut out for us.”

“We know this is going to be a tough series, a really, really tough series,” admitted Pierce. “You got LeBron James, the best player in the NBA right now. He is about to receive another MVP, a two-time MVP. It’s a huge mountain we going to have to climb, but I think this team is ready to face the test.”

But are they?  Is beating the Heat — even in five games — really a sign that Boston is ready for the league’s top team?  As well as the Celtics looked at times against Miami, troublesome signs remained.  “We still make some of the same mistakes,” said Glen Davis even after yesterday’s win.  Remember, the Celtics — down 14 in the second half — could easily have lost Game One, and Game Three was saved only by a late dose of Truth syrup.  Give those two games away, and suddenly the Celts would have been down, not up, 3-1 going into Game Five.  Then again, maybe winning games they might have lost is the best sign yet that the Celtics are ready.

“I would say from our vantage point,” noted Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, “at least when we played them, that’s probably the most mentally tough team that we’ve played this year.”

For much of the season, “mentally tough” wouldn’t have been a catch-phrase to throw out in regards to the Celtics.  They lost the games they were supposed to.  Early deficits were mostly insurmountable.  Teams went on runs, and the Celtics were unable — unwilling? — to stop them.

But that changed against Miami as the regular season became the playoffs, and the newly-found resolve — non-existent in the months leading up to the postseason — is the biggest reason to put faith in the Celtics.

“We are playing as good basketball as we have been playing all season long, and we are ready,” Pierce said, reiterating his confidence.

Ready for a player as physically talented as any to ever grace an NBA court.  Ready for that player’s retooled supporting cast, bolstered by the midseason addition of Antawn Jamison.  Ready to make good on the promise that the playoffs would be different.  Ready to dethrone the King, a king who has still never received the one crown he wants most.

But, as ready as they may be, can the Celtics win the series?

With the knowledge gained from experience and past conquers on their side, the Celtics can.  Whether they will can only be decided on the court.

Celtics fans can only hope that court will be ruled not by a king, but by a cast of former champions turned underdogs.

Count Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman as one person who considers the Boston Celtics to be major underdogs against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He compares 2008 to this season.

“It’s a whole different ballgame,” Celtics forward Glen Davis said of this year’s matchup.

That Cleveland team was comprised of LeBron and a bunch of spare parts.

There was Ben Wallace, in the twilight of his career, starting up front alongside Zydrunas Ilgauskas – who could barely move and rarely gets his worn-down 7-foot frame off the bench these days.

Delonte West has also been relegated to a reserve role, and the final starter, Wally Szczerbiak, is now retired and doing television work.

Now, James has plenty of help.

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t in his prime, but he’s still a major upgrade over Ilgauskas. The Cavs dealt for guard Mo Williams before 2008, and he was an instant All-Star with James by his side. Anthony Parker has been a valuable piece, and the Cavs established themselves as arguably the favorites to win the title when Danny Ferry added Antawn Jamison on Feb. 17 for what amounted to a late first-round pick.

The Celtics aren’t the same, either.

Garnett was a machine just 24 months ago, a 31-year-old relentless and athletic freak who was a virtual lock to put up 20 and 10 during the playoffs.

Now, he’s just another player after battling knee injuries that forced him to watch the entire postseason a year ago and also had him miss a significant portion of the 2009-10 regular season.

Allen was money.

Now, he’s a soon-to-be 35-year-old whose shot is as unpredictable as the New England weather.

Pierce was capable of exploding for 40 on any given night.

Now, he’s more likely to be held to single digits.

Sure, there have been significant improvements in Rajon Rondo’s game, but this is a mismatch.

My first reaction: Wait, Wally Szczerbiak is doing television work? For what station?

My second reaction: Ray Allen’s shot is far from “as unpredictable as the New England weather.” Actually, since the All-Star break Ray’s been on the money. He’s one of the game’s best shooters. If you recall, Goodman, Ray had one of the worst stretch of games of his life against Cleveland in that series two seasons ago. The chances of him being that bad this time around are as slim as Calista Flockhart. He averaged 9.3 points per game, and shot 16.7% from three-point distance. So let’s not pretend he’ll be worse this series, especially after he just spent five games throwing darts against Miami.

My third reaction: Other than the Ray Allen discrepancy, Goodman is just about right. The Celtics are underdogs, and should be.

But they aren’t toast, and one of the reasons Celtics fans can be a little confident is that Lebron has never won a championship. Until the Cavaliers win something, they still haven’t won anything.

What do you guys think?

Deron: "I'm not on the list, but YOU are. Must be that these damn Mormons don't buy jerseys." Nate: "...Or that I'm better than you." Deron: "No!!!! It's the Mormons!!!!" Nate: "Whatever, dude. At least I don't get sweaty during games."

The NBA came out with the list of the fifteen most popular jerseys, and four Celtics made the cut.  One of them was Nate Robinson.  Here’s the list: (via WEEI)

Top 15 Most Popular NBA Jerseys

1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
2. LeBron James, Cavaliers
3. Kevin Garnett, Celtics
4. Derrick Rose, Bulls
5. Dwight Howard, Magic
6. Dwyane Wade, Heat
7. Chris Paul, Hornets
8. Paul Pierce, Celtics
9. Kevin Durant, Thunder
10. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
11. Nate Robinson, Celtics
12. David Lee, Knicks
13. Brandon Roy, Blazers
14. Pau Gasol, Lakers
15. Rajon Rondo, Celtics

So Nate Robinson, a player who hardly ever breaks a sweat, sold the 11th-most jerseys in the NBA but Steve Nash, Deron Williams and Dirk Nowitzki are nowhere in the top fifteen?  That makes a lot of sense.

Look, I have nothing against Nate Robinson.  I even kind of like the guy, despite his uneven play for the Celtics.  But the fact this his jersey sells more often than Rajon Rondo’s makes me sad. Actually, it’s only jersey sales, I could care less.  But still.

I have a theory for why Nate’s jersey sold so often, one that doesn’t have to do with him winning three dunk contests:  Children, especially small children, find his jersey to be the best fit.

Another theory?  One of his family members has 50,000 jerseys hanging in his closet.