Can We Start the Bench?

Wow.

Inspired play. Attitude. A sense of urgency, energy even.

Of course, I'm just talking about the bench, and I'm just talking about the end of the third quarter and the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but you gotta start somewhere.

During that time frame, we saw Tony Allen clogging up passing lanes (on defense) and making steals a la James Posey. We saw Give It to Me Big Shelden throwing people around in the paint at one end of the floor and dunking in their face at the other. We saw Glen Davis time and again score from inside, and we saw Mighty Mouse draining threes like his name was Drazen Petrovic.

When Doc Rivers removed Shelden Williams from the game and replaced Glen Davis with Kevin Garnett, at least one viewer (this one) was left to ask, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? Do you understand that the Boston Celtics are actually playing basketball and playing it, dare I say, well? Sure, it was against the Pistons. Undoubtedly, we still gave up too many points in the paint. But for the love of pete, Coach, can you possibly let the players stay on the floor when they're on a roll and have some momentum?

I mean, the starters egos can't be that fragile. Hell, having KG, Pierce, and Jesus watch the reserves close out a game might even remind them how its done.