Pierce out for Cavs AND possibly Daniels?

Pierce out for the Cavs and now Quis was sent home from practice today with an "unspecified illness." Yikes. From Yahoo Sports:


Celtics’ Pierce to miss Cavs game with hurt thumb

32 minutes ago

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP)—Celtics coach Doc Rivers says leading scorer Paul Pierce will not play when Boston takes on LeBron James(notes) and the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.

Rivers held Pierce was out of practice on Wednesday to protect the star forward’s injured right thumb.

Asked if he was concerned that Pierce’s thumb was anything more than a sprain, Rivers said that was unlikely.

Also missing practice on Wednesday was Marquis Daniels, who was sent home because of an unspecified illness.

Perhaps Quis has Lebronitis, and needs an extra day of rest to overcome it!

beat

Updated info. Seems Daniels has the flu but is still a possibility for tomorrow. From the Globe Celtic blog:

The Celtics' first choices to defend Cleveland's LeBron James in Thursday's game are Marquis Daniels and Paul Pierce. And both Daniels and Pierce missed practice Wednesday with flu symptoms.

Daniels could be available for the game but Pierce, who also has a sprained thumb, is likely out. Completely joking, Rivers said he'd go out and guard James -- if the league still allowed hand checks. Half-joking, Rivers said he'd sic Rondo on him. And throwing out all possibilities, Rivers said he might match the other piece of the Nate Robinson deal, Marcus Landry, up with James.

Landry, a 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pounder who played center at Wisconsin, sounded ready to run through walls for Rivers and seemed equally eager about the possibility of guarding James, saying:

"LeBron is a great, great player. I've been watching his game, and as they were doing things out here [in practice], I noticed spots that he likes to go to. He's a great player and it would definitely be a good challenge to me ... He's a great player, you're not going to keep him from scoring, but you can most definitely make it hard for him."

Haha the Landry kid has the spirit at least

Heck

I think if there was any chance that I had to guard Lebron.........i'd come down with the flu too!

beat

BEAT: Make it Legionaires Disease-a golden oldie from '76 The Bicentenial!-and a C's title year!-MD.

If both Paul and Quis are out, I would guess Tony would start at SF and would inherit the job of covering Lebron. (Assuming, of course, that Tony has not reinjured his ankle.) At that point, what would really be the downside of throwing Landry into the fire? It's difficult to imagine that his performance could fall below expectations. His forte is supposed to be defense. Perhaps it would be preferable to having another Celtics injure himself by trying to stretch his abilities into uncharted waters. Besides, 12 fouls would probably come in handy.

Sam

Sam,

I think you've got it. What could having six more fouls to give hurt? Landry may as well earn his pay; and one day tell his kids he guarded LeBron.

Might as well throw whoever we have at him to see what happens.

Regards

Nobody really guard James effectively. It will be a team effort, but without Pierce and Daniels out there its going to be a long night.