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Pregame – Thoughts on Pierce Heading to All-Star Weekend

Well it’s official: The Boston Celtics will be represented at the 2012 NBA All-Star game in Orlando. The catch is that their presence will be more limited than it has been since 2008.

Paul Pierce was the only Celtic player selected to the game, as Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were snubbed and Kevin Garnett’s streak of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances comes to a close.

Boston’s players didn’t exactly help themselves out when they started the season out slowly, and Rondo didn’t make the team because he missed eight of the team’s 24 games thus far. Allen and Rivers were two members of the Celtics who think that the lockout has a lot to do with Boston’s limited representation in the All-Star game this season.

Rivers spoke openly about the fact that voting, both for starters and reserves, took place far too early.

“Listen, I was sitting on my couch and they announced the starters and I was floored because I didn’t even know they started the voting. And I’m serious – I didn’t even know the voting had started,” said Rivers. “I think that we could have waited at least another week to do the subs, so I just thought it was too early.”

Allen took a different approach. He didn’t exactly state that he thinks voting took place too early, instead choosing to explain how that early voting affected the All-Star team rosters.

“Based on a regular schedule, based on games, the All-Star break is after 40-something games and we’re at, what, 24?” said Allen. “So you figure 20 more games, things start to average out, level out, and if the great players had tough starts their numbers would start to pick up and average out. So that’s all it is.”

Regardless of what the reasons are, the fact is that Pierce is the only Celtic heading to Orlando for the festivities later this month. Allen continued on and explained why.

“You take Paul for example. Whether he makes it or not, if All-Star selection was decided three weeks ago, then most people would have said that they didn’t think he would have made it,” Allen said. “But now he’s playing great over the last two weeks, so he’s got a greater chance of making it.”

Having just one player, Pierce, in the game could be good news for the C’s in the long run, though. This schedule is brutal on the body, and I’m sure none of them will complain about some time off.