Celtics Welcome Delk and Rogers

February 22, 2002

Boston, meanwhile, welcomed newcomer Rodney Rogers to the team, but he did not see any action. He was not expected to. The team did not expect to see Tony Delk until tomorrow in Houston, as Delk was home in Tennessee with his father, who suffered a stroke. But Delk surprisingly showed up early in the game and watched from behind the Boston bench. He'll practice with the team today.



"I've known Tony a long time," said Celtics coach Jim O'Brien. "He's a solid guy. He's a wonderful addition to the chemistry of our ball club and the type of team we are trying to build."

Rogers donned No. 54, the first Celtic to wear that number since the immortal Larry Sykes in 1995-96.Delk is slated to wear No. 11, which was Randy Brown's old number.

Erick the ready

Erick Strickland, who bruised his thigh and went only six minutes against the Lakers Tuesday, played 29 minutes off the bench and had 15 points . . . The Mavericks won despite committing 19 turnovers, 13 of which came in a hideous second quarter . . . The Dallas bench consisted of Eduardo Najera, Wang Zhizhi, and Evan Eschmeyer. They combined for only 9 points on 3-of-14 shooting but were able to give the starters some rest and had some key rebounds and blocked shots . . . Dallas ratcheted up the defense in the second half. The Celtics scored 60 points and shot 50 percent in the first half. They scored 32 points and shot 32.4 percent in the second half . . . Nelson said that Johnny Newman (43 minutes, 8 points, tough defense on Paul Pierce) deserved the game ball. "He did an outstanding job defensively," Nelson said. "He followed our game plan almost perfectly." The Celtics seemed surprised that defensively challenged Dallas played so tough in the fourth quarter. "They're not a very good defensive team," Kenny Anderson said. "But we've got to adjust when things don't go our way. Normally, we do. This time, we didn't." . . . Only in Texas: A sign on the door to American Airlines Center reads, "No Firearms Allowed In the Building." . . . The Mavs registered their 20th straight sellout.