WALTHAM - So what if the Celtics have a chance to make history with a win against the Wizards tomorrow night in Washington. They wouldn't have reached 20-2 - a feat matched by only two other teams in franchise history - if they actually thought about this kind of irrelevance. That, anyway, is the way they are looking at the chance to go 21-2 - a mark no other Celtics team has achieved.
``I don't even care,'' coach Doc Rivers said after yesterday's practice. ``That's not a focus. It doesn't do a lot for us. ``That kind of thing is nice, but I'd trade that any day for the best finish ever. That's what we're aiming for.'' Rivers can rest easy. His players long ago bought into the plan of only looking ahead.
``I don't think we're aware of that at all,'' Ray Allen said. ``You think of all those milestones we passed last year that weren't really milestones, like starting the year 7-0 and things like that. ``I guess it is great to set fresh records. It's great to make history, but it doesn't mean anything.''
Should the Celtics break a best-start tie they hold with last year's team and the 1963-64 squad, it will be because they haven't dwelled on the achievement. ``What's important is that we just keep playing well,'' Paul Pierce said. ``We never go into a season where it's our goal to win this many games.''
Instead, the goal is to develop a healthy case of amnesia. ``We've forgotten about last year,'' Pierce said. ``We don't get discouraged when we get down in games, and that comes from winning a championship.
``A year ago we might have wondered in certain games what to think of a certain situation, but right now we're a very confident group. No team has ever gone 82-0, so we can definitely get better.''
And in case anyone has thought about dwelling on the numbers, Rivers has made sure to knock them back to reality. ``As a staff I know we don't look at our record,'' Rivers said. ``We don't talk about that. The guys hear that they're 20-2, and all we tell them is that they have to improve. I always tell people, `You have to be careful about paying attention to your record.' ''
Message delivered.
Celtics notes
A spry Tony Allen ran through practice without any apparent trouble from his sore right ankle.
That doesn't mean he's not still feeling the effects of an injury that kept him out of two games last week before Sunday's return against the Pacers. ``I think he's fine. He has that explosiveness back,'' Rivers said. ``He had a good practice, and he had a good game (Sunday). I just threw him out there, and I was ready to pull him out again, but he was good. He was so good I almost regretted not playing him Friday.'' Said Allen: ``I still feel the pain, but for the most part I'm fighting through it. There's a lot going on right now.
``I just want to fight through it.''
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