Celtics head coach Doc Rivers announced before Friday's game with the Pacers that he was inserting forward Brandon Bass back in the starting lineup, taking the place of Jason Collins.
The lineup of Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Bass, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce marks the ninth different lineup Rivers has used in the first 32 games of the season. That lineup debuted on March 25, 2012 after Mickael Pietrus suffered a concussion in Philadelphia and two games after Ray Allen was sent to the bench. With that lineup, the Celtics went 11-3 down the stretch to help the Celtics win the Atlantic Division title for a fifth straight season.
Collins had started the previous seven games for the Celtics since being inserted in the lineup for Bass on Dec. 21 against the Cavaliers to take the load off Kevin Garnett in the low post.
Bass has strugged in his role off the bench, both offensively and defensively, and Rivers made the decision Friday to boost Bass' game by putting him on the floor more with Garnett.
For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/celtics
[2] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/celtics