Just before coming in and making his debut for the Miami Heat to a standing ovation at American Airlines Arena, Ray Allen went over to the Celtics bench to shake hands with Doc Rivers and assistants Kevin Eastman and Armond Hill.

The look from Hill was chilly but nothing compared to when he tried going around Eastman and tap old teammate Kevin Garnett on the left shoulder. Garnett didn’t budge as the above .GIF from www.gifulmination.com shows.

See video of the incident below:

When the second half began Tuesday night, Doc Rivers was no where to be found on the Celtics bench. As it turned out, there was no medical emergency. It was all pre-planned. Rivers told his longtime assistant Armond Hill he would be taking the reins in the second half. Why?

“He just came to me and said, ‘Armond, you’re coaching the second half.’ He’s always said that as much as players are in training camp, so are the coaches. And so what would happen if he gets thrown out, something like that?”

Rivers actually joked with reporters before the 97-96 preseason loss to the Nets at TD Garden that everyone should go home by nine o’clock in order to watch the debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. As it turned out, Rivers was in the locker room right about the same time as the debate began. But Hill insisted Rivers was actually watching the Celtics game since he knew every detail of what was going on in the game, including the Celtics losing a nine-point lead with 3:16 left in the fourth quarter.

“I can only thank Doc for giving me the opportunity to coach,” Hill said. “That’s what we’re all here for. He’s taught me and I’ve been with him and he continues to teach me and he’s given me another opportunity.

“As far as at the end, I put all the guys in and I didn’t have any point guards in. But, once I explained that Courtney [Courtney Lee] was cramping up a little bit, he understood. So we just played them. But we still had chances and I thought we shot quick, too quick, when we had a seven-and eight-point lead. But it’s all a learning experience.” Read the rest of this entry »