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.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘It was good being on the bench with KG – he was really into it, as if it was a regular-season game,’ said Rondo. ‘He’s just himself when it comes to that. He rooted for me. He rooted for Paul. He did everything we already know he’s going to do when he’s out there to support people.’ Perhaps the one aspect that didn’t surprise Rondo was Van Gundy’s decision to use him with Wade in the last nine minutes. ‘I wasn’t surprised,’ he said. ‘It’s the situation I want to be in in an All-Star Game.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – [Paul Pierce] “On playing with his Celtic teammates: ‘It was good to be out there with Rondo. I played with Ray (Allen) the last couple of years, so last few years I had a chance to play with two of my teammates and it makes it even more enjoyable. I was out there in the 3-point contest and they were out there supporting me. And talking to Rondo on the bench, he was telling me his heart was beating fast when he was about to go into the game. But he did well out there.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “[Zach] Randolph, however, admits teammates’ perspective of [Rasheed] Wallace and that of others can be different. ‘If you didn’t know him, you could probably think he’s a (jerk), but he’s a great dude,’ he said. Randolph also believes that Wallace, despite his advancing age, still can contribute. ‘I think he has something left,’ he said. ‘He’s a team player. He does the little stuff that you need.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘It was a great weekend,’ Rondo said. “It came and went kinda fast. Before you knew it, it was over. For the most part I enjoyed it. I didn’t have a bad time this whole weekend. I got time with my family. I’m very happy.’ Now it’s back to business and the second half of a season temporarily derailed by the Celtics’ struggles at the end of the first half. Rondo doesn’t have the answer to turning it around — if he did, he said, he’d have done it already. But he does know the Celtics will turn it around. And unlike him playing in crunch-time of his first NBA All-Star Game, no one questioned him about that.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics play at Sacramento tomorrow night, then head to Los Angeles (Lakers), Portland, and Denver before returning to TD Garden Feb. 23 to face the Knicks. Rondo said he doesn’t think the trip is critical. ‘We could win all four games and come home and lose two in a row,’ he said. ‘So I wouldn’t say it’s irrelevant, but it’s not going to determine our success.’ Pierce, who dealt with knee and foot injuries in the first half, said, ‘We always look at the season in the three parts. You have the first half, the second half, and the playoffs. So this is a chance to refresh ourselves.’”

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

A night after an incredibly weak NBA dunk contest disappointed all of Western civilization, two Chris Bosh free throws with 5.0 seconds remaining gave the Eastern Conference All-Stars a 141-139 victory. A record crowd of 108,713 fans watched the game, held in the new Cowboys Stadium. Read more »

In honor of Saturday night’s dunk contest, -perhaps the worst dunk contest ever- we bring you Chris Andersen, the worst dunk contest participant in recent memory. It wouldn’t surprise me  if Andersen was immediately drug tested after this exhibition, leading to his two-year suspension from the league. He had to be on drugs with some of these dunk attempts, right?

Pierce partying after either the championship or his 3-point contest victory, I'm not which

Paul Pierce won the NBA 3-Point contest with a 20 point final round, defeating rookie Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets.

In Pierce’s only other 3-point contest appearance in 2002, he finished in last place. Curry posted the highest first-round total, with 18 points, while Billups and Pierce advanced with 17 points each.

In the finals , however, Pierce shot first, making all five money-balls on his way to 20 points, and neither Curry (17) nor Billups (14) could match him. Pierce and teammate Eddie House both lobbied hard for inclusion in the 3-point shootout.

Throughout the contest, fellow All-stars Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett were cheering loudly for Pierce, rooting for him to take the hardware, the trophy, back to Boston.

1. Chris Forsberg has video, interviews and McLovin in his practice report on All-Star Saturday.

McLovin, A Celtics fan?!

 DALLAS — Media access at the NBA All-Star game turned out to be a lot like the Media Day at the Super Bowl: Lots of microphones, lot of characters, and lots of off-the-wall questions. One minute Paul Pierce is fielding serious queries about whether Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge talks to him about potential trades, the next Kevin Garnett is being asked to give a shoutout to his fans in Mexico.

Here’s a handful of moments that stood out from this morning’s session:

2. Louise K. Cornetta, in a  Valentine’s Day special for ESPNBoston, has a few Boston Celtics sharing with her their worst dating experience.

Glen Davis, Celtics forward: “I went out to dinner with a girl and it wasn’t going very well. Then she got food poisoning. So I had to take care of her and she ended up throwing up all over me. That was our first and last date.”

We all expected Rajon Rondo to be named an All-Star, and we hoped Pierce would join Rondo and Kevin Garnett (voted in as a starter) on the team. Read more »