The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

(Celtics fans, meet Mario West. He could be your 15th man.)

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “The obvious question after the Celtics released rookie forward Tony Gaffney Saturday is whether the camp competition for the 15th roster spot is over. After all, it seemed like a two-horse race between Von Wafer and Gaffney at the start of the preseason, so that leaves only one man standing. But the Celtics did carry an intriguing pair of young players out of camp in Mario West and Stephane Lasme. Both have reputations as being more defensive minded, and West in particular seems to be making a push to stick around thanks a scrappy work ethic that compensates for his lack of offensive skills. Could either player truly push Wafer, whose contract is not fully guaranteed, for the final spot on the Boston roster? … ‘All the new guys, the more they can play with the starters, the more beneficial it is for them,” said Rivers. “They’re the guy not guarded, so they’ll shoot wide-open shots. That’s what Von does. He hasn’t made a shot in camp yet, but he’s a great shooter, he is. I think he’s learning from us. Every time he misses, he looks over. I tell him, ‘I don’t care, it was a good shot.’ I want him to keep shooting.’” Read more »

Mario West spent some time with the Maine Red Claws last season, averaging 13.7 points and 4.1 assists.

I wonder what Danny Ainge is thinking, though. Why hasn’t he worked out Dana Barros, Walter McCarty or Dino Radja?

Maine Red Claws (12-6) vs. Springfield Armor (3-14)
8:00PM Friday, January 15, Portland Expo, Portland, Maine

The Red Claws-Armor rivalry is really heating up this month. The two teams play each other five times in January, then don’t face off again until the end of March.

Read more »

For a long time, it has been generally assumed that either G Mario West or F Trey Gilder would be called up by an NBA team. The only question was who would be first. Now, we have that answer.

Read more »

In the first half of the Maine-Erie matchup last night, it looked like the Red Claws were rolling to another big win. This wasn’t exactly surprising – Maine has defeated Erie three times this season, and that trend continued as they won 94-86. Maine came out of the gate with a lot of energy, rolling to a 17-point lead at halftime. Was another blowout in the offing? All they had to do was keep their energy at similar levels in the second half and they’d be fine. They were headed to another win, to be sure.

Read more »

Last night the Portland Expo crowd watched as their new team notched a gutsy win over the Tulsa 66ers. It was the sort of performance that Celtics fans will recognize, as it featured an anemic first half followed by an impressive second half. It was, by far, the most exciting game of the season, at home or on the road. With the way the Maine Red Claws played in the first half other fans might have fled. Instead, the dedicated Maine basketball fans stuck it out, and saw the Claws come back from a 17-point halftime deficit to win the game.

Read more »