Celtics coach Doc Rivers made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Thursday morning. Rivers opened with a suggestion on whom the Patriots should select in April's NFL draft: Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, who is dating Rivers' daughter.

Rivers then addressed the trash-talking in Wednesday night's Celtics win, which led to an altercation between Paul Pierce and Charlotte's Stephen Jackson as Jackson was preparing to shoot a free throw. "I thought more of it was frustration on Stephen's part," Rivers said. "It was a strange [situation], though."

Rivers talked about how Larry Bird was a great trash-talker and how the best way to respond was to play harder. Said Rivers: "It bothered you sometimes, but not to the fact that you wanted to fight, but to get him back on the floor, to win the game." Added Rivers: "[It used to be that] the great players were the trash-...

Following Wednesday night's blowout win by the Celtics, Charlotte's Stephen Jackson took issue with trash-talking by the Celtics, and captain Paul Pierce in particular. "It turned disrespectful when certain things were said," Jackson said. "You can be emotional in the game and you talk to your teammates and do all that, but when you get personal and direct certain things to people as far as their manhood, that's when the problems come up. And I guarantee you that if I wasn't in this gym, that wouldn't have been said to me." Pierce and Jackson got into a verbal battle and were each called for technical fouls midway through the third quarter as Jackson was preparing to shoot free throws. For more, including audio from Jackson, visit the Green Street blog.