Doc: Milicic 'likely' to return to Serbia

By Greg Payne | ESPNBoston.com

WALTHAM -- Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it's likely that reserve center Darko Milicic will leave the team for the remainder of the season in order to be with his ill mother in Serbia.

"Most likely, yeah," Rivers said when asked if Milicic was done.

"Stuff with his family has been going on for a while. We've talked about it three or four times. You know, it's probably 50-50, but once you get the one side working, it's always going to win out."

Milicic hasn't played since the Celtics' home opener Nov. 2 -- his only appearance of the regular season -- and didn't travel with the team last weekend for Sunday's game against the Detroit Pistons.

Rivers said the team has known about Milicic's family issues for some time, but that he didn't think it would result in Milicic leaving the team.

"No, no. We were hoping not," Rivers said. "But his mom gets sick, he's not playing, the whole sickness, it happens. I didn't fight it much. I told him he's got to do what he thinks is right, and I'm going to support him one way or the other. But it's been going on for a little bit now.

"You could see a change when he found out his mom wasn't doing well. There's no doubt about that," Rivers added.

Rivers said the team won't rush to fill Milicic's roster spot.

"No rush at all," Rivers said. "We're going to look around, but I can tell you we're in no rush."

Other notes from Tuesday's session:

* Recharging: With his team still feeling some of the effects from the recent seven-games-in-10-days stretch, Rivers opted to keep things light on Tuesday, running practice for a little over an hour.

"It wasn't much today," Rivers said. "Hell, I think we're still tired, honestly. So, today's practice was light. Didn't do a lot. I just didn't feel like we could work on a lot today. I just needed them in the gym together and just run through stuff and run into each other a couple times."

* Big Games? Though the Celtics haven't played against some of the league's better teams yet, Rivers said that Wednesday and Friday's bouts with San Antonio and Oklahoma City, respectively, won't act as a litmus test for Boston.

"Listen, if we win them, what does it mean? It means we beat San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the regular season, you know?" River said. "Clearly, it's fun playing teams like this. It really is. I hope every night's a litmus test. We've got to get better. We're 6-5 and you are what your record says you are. So, we want to just get better, and playing these two teams, we want to beat them both. One at a time.

"We play San Antonio first and that's where our focus has to be. But again, the big picture of it, it can't hurt you if you beat teams like this, but at the end of the day, you still have to be ready when the playoffs start."

* What streak? Rivers left Rajon Rondo in late in Sunday's loss to the Pistons to pursue his streak of double-digit assist games, but he said he was unaware of what Rondo's record actually was and who he was chasing.

"I could care less, honestly. I really do," Rivers said of the streak, which currently sits at 34 games. "For him, it'd be great, but I never get into the individual streak stuff. What does that do for you? You have a record. I'm made different that way, and they know that. It'd be great for him to get it. I don't even know what it is. I swear to gosh, I have no idea what he's chasing. I just hear he's got a streak going. Who is he chasing? I don't even know that."

Informed it's John Stockton and Magic Johnson, he replied, "Oh, so that tells you where I'm at with it. I think that explains it all."

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RIVERS ON D&C: DARKO 'HAS MY BLESSING' TO GO

WEEI By: Jerry Spar

Celtics coach Doc Rivers joined Dennis & Callahan on Tuesday morning to discuss the state of the Celtics, who are coming off Sunday's blowout loss to the Pistons that dropped them to 6-5.

"Too early to tell. I do like where we're going, we're trending, we're getting better in a lot of areas," Rivers said. "Also understand we just came off the toughest stretch that we're going to have this season, as far as seven games in 10 days, four games in five. We don't have another stretch like that this year. So, when you watch, let's say the Detroit game, you're trying to evaluate more on conditioning and fatigue, just so many other factors, instead of just watching your team play basketball."

Rajon Rondo has a streak of 34 consecutive games with double-digit assists, but there was some controversy about his most recent 10-assist game. Rivers acknowledged keeping Rondo in against the Pistons until he got his 10th assist even though the game was out of reach.

"It doesn't matter that much to me, honestly," Rivers said. "I can tell you I honestly didn't know about it until maybe a week ago, because I don't read much stuff. Then I heard the chatter before games, the reporters were asking about it, so then you know about it. I think it does matter to him, there's no doubt about that. I just don't want it to matter to him more than just playing his game. And I think for the most part he's done that.

"The other night I'm sitting there thinking we're going to lose the game with five minutes left, you could clearly see that. And that's the first time that I turned around and asked someone, 'Hey, how many assists does Rondo have?' He had eight, and I decided to leave him in and see if he can get two more."

Asked if he thought about how it might cheapen the accomplishment to have Rondo get his last two assists in garbage time, Rivers said: "Yeah, but in that case it's not like everyone stopped playing. The other team absolutely didn't stop playing. I just left him on the floor. If that had been a close game he'd have been on the floor. So, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Darko Milicic, signed in the offseason to provide depth in the frontcourt, reportedly has been considering returning to his native Serbia to be with his ailing mother. Milicic, a bust as the second overall pick in the 2003 draft, has appeared in just one game for the Celtics.

"It's up to him right now," Rivers said. "He has some family issues, more his mom. Not playing, and being in another country, and the NBA hasn't gone exactly great for him over his career. So, it's a lot of reasons for him to want to leave. And I understand that, and I told him that. So, I pretty much left it up to him. He has my blessing either way."

The Celtics have two 2012 draft picks playing with the D-League's Maine Red Claws, but Rivers said that if Milicic departs, it doesn't necessarily mean one of the rookies will get a call-up.

"I don't think we're in any rush to do that," Rivers said. "If we see somebody out there that we think can help us if Darko leaves, then yes. If not, patience usually helps in our league. Especially after the All-Star break, guys get released, other guys become available. I think we'll be patient."

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