John Wall is unlikely to play in tonight’s game. That means one thing:

I’M NOT WATCHING!!!

I kid. While it would have been heavenly to see the Wall-Rondo matchup, I was one who stuck it out during the Marty Conlon days. I don’t care if the Celtics are playing St. Anne’s School for the Deaf and Blind, I’m going to watch.

But they aren’t playing St. Anne’s, they’re playing the Washington Wizards – who happen to have an exciting (if painfully inefficient and poorly put together) team. Even if Wall doesn’t play, this should be fun.

Three things to look for (besides whether Wall suits up):

1. Delonte West’s return – Mr. West is in the building, swagger on a hundred thousand trillion. Or something like that. I don’t know what to expect from West tonight. He has kept in shape, but game shape is a different animal. Once West works himself into top gear, though, the Celtics have themselves a new weapon. No pun intended. But speaking of weapons:

2. Gilbert Arenas – Say what you want about Arenas’s odd-duck behavior, or his complete (and initial) lack of remorse for the whole gun incident, or his shot-happy (basketball-wise) tendencies. Gilbert, on the court, has always been fun to watch. He’s an ultimate showman, whether he’s screaming out “Hibatchi” before shots or simply lighting up the scoreboard at a phenomenal rate.

I’m not even an Arenas fan, but the NBA has been a different place since Gilbert stopped being so quirky. There was something enjoyable about Gilbert’s tell-all blog on NBA.com, something about his personality that just seemed genuine. He was always odd, that’s for damn sure, but he was real. There are a lot of NBA stars that aren’t.

I’m not the only one who misses the old Gilbert, am I?

3. Kevin Garnett vs. Andray Blatche – First Garnett made Blatche cry. Then Blatche just about made Garnett cry, scoring 31 points and 11 rebounds against the Celtics and causing everyone to stand and shout, “The demise of Kevin Garnett!!!!!!!” The only reason Garnett didn’t cry was that he only cries to John Thompson.

Now Blatche won’t let the feud die. When asked what he would do if Garnett talked more trash tonight, Blatche replied:

“Who? I don’t think I know nobody I’m going to talk back to. I ain’t got nothing to say. I’m going to play my game and help my team win.”

… “and help my team win.” Umm, we’ll see about that, Andray.