Glen Davis was asked about seven different ways if he was returning from his ankle injury because of all the other injuries that the team has suffered recently, but he wouldn’t bite. “I’m coming back because I can play,” he said.

But then somebody asked him what it was going to feel like to get back out on the court. “It’s like jail,” he said. “I’m ready to get out. Let me out! I’m ready for parole.”

His return is a big relief for Doc Rivers who admitted he had no idea what he can expect from Baby tonight. “We haven’t seen him play,” Rivers said. “So I’m going to start him.” Then the coach laughed . What else could he do?

Baby is off to strong start tonight with four points and three rebounds through the first nine minutes, but the most important number for him is one, as in fouls. With only three big men in uniform (Davis, Kendrick Perkins and Mikki Moore) none of them can afford to be in any kind of foul trouble.

At the start of the second quarter … Celtics 21, Cavaliers 19

- The Garden kicked off the second quarter with a trivia contest for playoff tickets, hosted by Greg Dickerson. The contest pitted a Celtics and Cavs fan against one another. Despite being spoon-fed the correct answers, the Celtics fans still got the first question wrong. Needless to say he was booed.

- On the court: Celtics – Powe/Moore/Marbury/Pierce/House … Cavs – Gibson/Williams/Szczerbiak/Hickson/Smith

- It’ll be interesting to see how the Celtics bigs handle Joe Smith and J.J. Hickson. Smith has a mid-range jumper that can pull defenders out of the paint. The rookie Hickson was working on turn-around bank shots before the game.

- Mikki Moore had his first crowd-rousing moment at the Garden when he dunked through a handful of Cavs off of a Marbury pass.

- At the timeout: Celtics Karaoke courtesy of Big Baby, Ray Allen, and Leon Powe. Davis busted out into a solo performance that sounded like Simon Cowell’s worst nightmare.

- Rondo was welcomed back into the game with a standing ovation. The Cavs have most of their starters back in the game looking for an offensive spark. So far they have come up cold in the second quarter. The Celtics have all five starters in the game.

- LeBron’s posing after every shot like it’s a game winner. He’s shooting 2-for-7.

- Mo Williams has the Cavs back in this game with eight quick points. At the half … Cetlics 45, Cavs 43

It’s not often that an NBA power forward can be compared to a Major League pitcher, but in this case,  Celtics head coach Doc Rivers thought it was fitting. For two seasons, Leon Powe was a relative unknown in the league. A breakout performance in last year’s NBA Finals changed that. Since then, opponents have been paying more attention when scouting the low post player.

With that comes struggles, said Rivers, who has not been overly concerned by Powe’s inconsistency in his third NBA season. The better an opponent knows a player, the more effective they can be in slowing him down. After a cold streak during January in which he went scoreless in three consecutive games, Powe is finding his place again on the court.

“I told myself to be aggressive,” he said. “Sometimes in the past, I wasn’t that aggressive when I got it because I missed a couple shots. So then I stopped being aggressive and became a little passive. Then, the coaches told me the other day, ‘If you’re going to go out there on the floor, just go out there and play and be aggressive.’”

Powe did just that on Wednesday night against the New Orleans Hornets. With Ray Allen sidelined in the first half by a hyperextended thumb, the Celtics needed the bench to step up. Powe offered a fourth quarter surge, scoring seven of his 11 points in just under eight minutes. His hustle at the basket (5-for-6 from the line) helped the Celtics defeat the Hornets, 89-77 (RECAP HERE).

In the first six games of February, Powe is averaging 19.3 minutes, 8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and shooting 62.1 percent from the field. It’s an improvement after averaging 14.6 minutes, 4.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 38.3 percent from the field in 15 games last month.

“I just wasn’t making my hook shots,” Powe said. “My hook’s been off a little bit from game to game. But I work on it every day and that’s one thing I had to get better. I think that’s why coach said they’ve probably been scouting me harder. But my hook’s been off.”

The Celtics, though, cannot afford for anyone’s shot to be off. In a tight race for homecourt advantage where every game counts, Powe has been watching from the bench while Glen Davis has been getting the minutes. But he doesn’t compare his playing time to Big Baby’s. His best motivation is his next opportunity.

“I’ve just been doing the same exact thing, just trying to work on my game and get my game better,” Powe said. “[I'm working on] stuff on the block, one-on-one on the post moves, and just trying to keep my game in tact while I’m sitting down. Sometimes I get the minutes, sometimes I don’t, and I’ve got to make sure my stuff is sharp.”

Just because he is scouted doesn’t mean he can be stopped.

NEW YORK – The New York Knicks have not held anything back from behind the arc against the Boston Celtics this season. In their first three match ups, the Knicks attempted 80 three-point shots, 22 more than the Celtics. On Friday night the Celtics were ready to counter the offensive assault.

Before the game Glen Davis extended his warm ups to the three-point line. Big Baby knocked down three consecutive shots from the top of the arc. Moments later, Ray Allen took target practice from the bench. In a close competition with Celtics assistant coach Mike Longabardi, Allen took shot after shot frim his seat. And not to be outdone, Leon Powe drained a three from the sidelines in front of a surprised Patrick O’Bryant.

The Celtics knew what they were in for. At the end of the first quarter alone, the Knicks had shot 4-for-10 from long range.

While Ray Allen was the hero of the Boston Celtics dramatic win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, the Cs would not have been in striking distance if it weren’t for one player stepping up in Kevin Garnett’s absence. For the second straight game, Glen Davis has thrived in his role as the Celtics starting power forward.

Davis shot 6-for-11 against the 76ers (ESPN.com)

Davis posted 12 points (6-11 FG) and 11 rebounds against the 76ers (RECAP HERE). Of his six field goals, only one came in the paint. On Sunday, he added 12 points (5-12 FG) and six rebounds against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis isn’t just attacking the hoop like a traditional big man. Big Baby is getting the job done with his jumper.

“I think it’s going to help my game tremendously,” Davis said recently. “If I can spread the floor for my team …  I can move up to the four, pick and roll to help out with Paul (Pierce), and hit the jumper. I kind of just train myself to be ready to hit that big shot.”

His preparation paid off when he hit knocked down a 17-footer with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. The basket brought the Celtics back within three and sparked an 8-to-4 run to close out the game.

This season Davis has developed a knack for mid-range jumpers. Even though the majority of his baskets have come at the rim – his biggest responsibility is attacking the glass – he has been in the zone away from the paint. He entered Tuesday’s game shooting nearly 50% from just inside the arc and almost 40% from the top of the key. Davis has made it a point to fit his jumpshots into his training regimen.

(NBA.com)

“It doesn’t take that long [in practice],” he said. “I might go 30 minutes hard, just jumper, jumper, jumper, jumper, and get mine in for the day. I just try to do it every day.”

Davis’ shot has been a work in progress over the years, according to his childhood friend, Dallas Mavericks forward Brandon Bass. The two also played college basketball together at LSU. Bass has seen Davis transform from a banger to a finesse player. It’s a move that was necessary for the 6-foot-9 forward to adapt as an undersized big man in the NBA.

“He never had a bad jumpshot,” Bass said. “He always could shoot it, but he wasn’t necessarily a jumpshooter. He was more of a guy you could throw it to on the block and he could get you a bucket, or he’d eat the glass up and get an offensive rebound. When I left [LSU in 2005] he developed a jumpshot a little more.”

Garnett (flu) is expected to return for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. While Davis won’t get as many looks off the bench, this extra playing time has helped his confidence with his shot. The skills are there; now it’s just a matter of showcasing them when given the opportunity.

“I feel like I always had the talent to do a lot of things,” Davis said. “It’s just all about working on them and doing them. But I always in college had flashes of myself taking the ball up the court, playing at a smaller position than the power forward and the center. So I know I can do it. It’s just about going out there and doing it and having confidence and working on it consistently.”

If Eddie House was trying to make a case for being included in the three-point shooting contest, it’s hard to imagine making a better one than he has in his last four games.

He is 22-for-32 in his last four games beyond the arc, including an 8-for-9 exhibition Wednesday night at the hands of the helpless Sacramento Kings, leading the Celtics to a 119-100 victory, their ninth straight.

House was hitting them from all angles and all places. He lives in Scottsdale and is going to be in the Phoenix area anyway, and would be a natural for the annual event at All-Star Weekend.

As far as trying to petition the league on such matters, head coach Doc Rivers told Dennis and Callahan this morning that, “the league is like the gestapo about it. We’re not sure who we can lobby about it.”

Well, let us help. Yes, the Celtics bench was a huge part of the proceedings, scoring a season-best 61 points. Yes, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo were red hot early, even though the Kings shot out to an early 23-13 lead in the first quarter.

But the story was the House on Fire.

Eddie House said he was just feeling it.

House said it would be great if he make the three-point contest at All-Star Weekend.

House said the big men running the court is making his life easier.

Kevin Garnett campaigned for House to make Phoenix.

Doc Rivers would love to see House make the three-party.

Glen Davis on the bench scoring 61 points in the win.

The Phoenix Suns have the size advantage almost every game with Shaquille O’Neal. Take the Boston Celtics biggest player off the court and the Suns are feeling good about the mismatch.

“Any time we get an opportunity to have a size difference with Shaq in the paint, we always try to go to him,” Amare Stoudemire said prior to Monday’s game. “We try to feed it to him, see if he can take advantage of that. And if not, we go to our other options. So tonight will be a pretty good night for Big Fella if he can dominate out there and stay out of foul trouble.”

The Celtics have to alter their plan of attack without Kendrick Perkins (shoulder). Doc Rivers is looking for Kevin Garnett to use his quickness to outplay Shaq, while the biggest mission for back ups Leon Powe, Glen Davis, and Brian Scalabrine is keeping a body between O’Neal and the basket. The Suns, though, aren’t changing their gameplan.

“I think it changes the fact that having Scalabrine starting as opposed to Kendrick Perkins, that’s a bit of a difference. But as opponents we can’t look at it that way,” said Stoudemire. “We’ve got to attack it as if he were playing, so we should go inside to the big fella. Shaq should have a pretty good game tonight.”

The Suns are one of the few teams who figured out the key to beating the Celtics last season. Stoudemire scored 28 points off of 10-for-23 shooting and Steve Nash added 18 in the Suns’ 85-77 victory. Combine that with former Charlotte Bobcat Jason Richardson’s success against the Cs and the Suns think they know how to get it done tonight.

“I’m pretty sure he knows how to defend the guards out there,” Stoudemir said of Richardson. “As a team, we’ve just got to pull together. We beat them last year, Bobcats beat them. What we’ve got to do is just keep playing how we’ve been playing.”