Your Morning Dump... Where the Truth Hurts

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

"It's a little banged up right now, so it's something I'm going to think about -- taking a few days off and letting it heal," said Pierce. "It's really affecting my game and my shot over the last few days. It's definitely something I'll consider with coach [Rivers on Tuesday] morning -- getting it a few days off to rest it."

Pierce was noncommittal when pressed for a timeline for any such absence, but stressed the injury didn't appear to require anything more than rest...

It will be interesting to see if Pierce rushes himself back for Thursday's game. The Celtics and Cavaliers do meet two additional times -- both Sunday national TV games on ABC -- over the final two months of the regular season.

ESPN Boston - Ailing Pierce Considers Time Off

There's zero chance Paul Pierce plays tonight against the Knicks. If he misses Thursday's game vs Cleveland and Saturday's game vs the Nets, he'll have had a full week of rest. And if the thumb still isn't healed fully, he could also sit next Tuesday vs the Pistons. With the way Ray Allen has been playing, the Cs could still win 3 of those 4 games.

On Page 2, Nate Robinson is starving for wins.

“I love the way everything is team,” he said. “They kind of play like a college team. It’s all about the team and winning and the championship. You can see it in their eyes, you can see how hungry they are. I’ve been hungry like that since I was born.”

But for tonight, Rivers told Robinson to keep things simple.

“He just said, ‘Just play your game. Don’t get too nervous, don’t worry about stepping on people’s toes. Just play,’ ” Robinson said.

Herald - Nate Robinson yearns to win, win, win

Name the last Celtics reserve who could isolate and score one-on-one? I can't think of anyone. We're going to enjoy the offensive punch provided by Nate. And how can anyone question his defensive skills, when he was never asked to play it in New York?

The rest of the links:

Globe - Robinson here in nick of time | "Magic & Bird" premiere | Knicks Thumbnails | Herald - Pierce may sit | Kid stuff high on Rivers' list | Celtics (re)starting 5 | CSNNE - Are Cs soaring or dangling? | ESPN - Hollinger grades the trade | WEEI - What league is expecting from Cs in 2nd half | Celtics Blog - Nate Rob quotes | Celtics Hub - Andris Biedrins and ghost of Garfield Smith | BDL - Pierce needs to sit |