FanHouse Doc Rivers

When the Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace over the summer as their big offseason acquisition, they may have thought they were getting a big man who would stretch the floor with his three-point shooting, and one who would force the centers on the other contenders to come out of the paint to try and stop him.

But 13 games into the Sheed experiment in Boston, Wallace's three-point shooting has hurt his new team far more than it has helped them. And Friday night's 0-for-8 performance from beyond the arc?

That one was so bad, it made history.

There were two lingering questions for the Celtics coming into this, a season where they are widely expected to contend for a championship. The first was the status of Kevin Garnett's knee which appears to be just fine. You can notice a very slight hobble by Garnett after an ill-advised dunk, but that could just be reverberations from the accompanying unnecessary screaming.

The other was the contract status of Rajon Rondo, who was working on an extension to avoid entering restricted free agency by remaining with the Celtics. Talks had slowed, and Rondo was making comments to the effect that it was possible he wouldn't end up in Boston.

Bad news for the rest of the league: he will end up in Boston. Early Monday after a fortunate extension from the league for all teams in negotiations, the Celtics and Rondo reached an agreement on a 5-year, $55 million extension, according to ESPN.

The Cavaliers are one of three teams, along with the Celtics and the Magic, that most experts have favored to come out of the Eastern Conference. Cleveland, however, comes across as a bit more confident than the others.

What gives us that impression? Only the fact that they've printed playoff tickets for every possible series, and included them in their packages that were already sent out to season ticket-holders.

This included, of course, tickets for the NBA Finals.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

It's been a busy offseason in the NBA with a lot of teams making major moves, from the Lakers picking up Ron Artest to the Cavs getting Shaquille O'Neal; to Orlando adding Vince Carter and the Boston Celtics bringing in the one-of-a-kind Rasheed Wallace. In this FanHouse video we catch up with Celtics coach Doc Rivers to ask him what he make of all these moves. We also ask him about the Celtics' swagger and street cred now that Celtics have Rasheed, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

For the past nine years the Harold Pump Foundation, created by David and Dana Pump (known as the gurus of high school and college basketball) has raised over $3.5 million dollars to fight cancer. The foundation's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Major stars such as Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pete Sampras and Denzel Washington have all joined the Pump brothers. In this report we also hear from young NBA stars like Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, and Blake Griffin.

Check out the video after the jump.

ORLANDO -- Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins is coming off the best season of his NBA career, but he may be losing the starting role he worked so hard to obtain.

Rasheed Wallace is going to want it now.

The signing Wednesday of Wallace to a two-year, $11.8 million deal not only gives the Celtics more depth in their chase for another championship but may change their starting lineup. .

"We're going to put our best five on the floor,'' said Celtics Coach Doc Rivers Wednesday. "At this point, I don't know if we're going to change the starting lineup.''

Red Auerbach's record of nine NBA championships as a head coach -- a mark the Celtics legend has shared with Lakers boss Phil Jackson since 2002 -- finally fell Sunday night. I'm sure when Auerbach stepped aside to let Bill Russell take his title many thought Red's record would never be caught. That it took three threepeats and then some to get Jackson over the hump tells you how much fate plays a role here.

Will we ever see another coach surpass Jackson's new record (assuming Jackson doesn't add on in the coming years)? It seems really unlikely, given modern circumstances.

ORLANDO -- Dwight Howard just took matters into his own hands Thursday night.

He complained about not getting the ball enough in a Game 5 loss in Boston – even threw his coach under the bus in the process – so he went and got the ball himself in Game 6.

Howard got the shots he wanted – scored 23 points -- but it still was his 22 rebounds that made the difference. He had an incredible 10 offensive rebounds, dominating around the basket at both ends in a 83-75 victory to even this best-of-seven series.

When the Boston Celtics first assembled the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, they essentially told untested young point guard Rajon Rondo to just stay out of the way.

Today, they are asking him to lead the way.

Rondo, 23, has progressed so rapidly and so impressively this season that he has gone from a role-playing afterthought in their championship run of 2008 to the key in their surprisingly-stubborn defense of a title in 2009.

"You could say my role has changed a little,'' Rondo said earlier this week. "People look to me more. I'm being asked, and expected, to do more. And I like that.''

If the best pure shooter in the NBA can't start hitting his shots again, the Boston Celtics don't have a chance in this playoff series.

It's plain and simple.

They will rise and fall with Ray Allen.

The Celtics prevailed in their opening-round, seven-game thriller with Chicago because Allen was brilliant from long range, making his shots like he was taking target practice at the rifle range, giving everyone around him a boost of confidence.