Phil Jackson got his message across earlier in the week and now it’s Doc Rivers’ turn to bellyache about NBA officiating.

During his Wednesday morning press conference, nearly 12 hours after his Boston Celtics lost, 91-84, to the L.A. Lakers in Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals, Rivers offered his thoughts on Derek Fisher and the way the veteran Lakers guard plays defense, and much of Rivers’ assessment wasn’t very complimentary.

When Rivers was asked how Fisher got around the screens and held Ray Allen to 0-for-13 shooting in Game 3, Rivers replied: “Besides flopping? He doesn’t do a lot, actually.”

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers had issues with Lakers guard Derek Fisher and how Game 3 was officiated. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

After Boston’s win in Game 2, Jackson complained about how Allen got away with bumping Fisher out of his spot as the Celtics’ shooting guard initated his activity through the gauntlet of screens.

Allen torched the Lakers for a Finals record eight 3-pointers on Sunday, but went 0-for-8 from behind the arc Tuesday night. What changed?

“I thought [Fisher] got away with a lot last night,” Rivers explained. “I thought there was a lot of holding going on and a lot of flopping going on. Finally he sold that last one. But he’s good at. He’s always been good at it, we knew that going into the series. He’s one of the best charge-takers in the game. It’s always been that.

“Some of them are charges, and then some of them are flops. But all of them are tough to call. It’s a brutal call to make.”

Rivers continued: “As far as the off-the-ball action, the single-double action, you are not allowed to hold. You’re not allowed to bump, you’re not allowed to impede progress. I read that this morning and I’m positive of it. When that happens then that has to be called.”

Jackson’s grumblings may or may not have influenced the officials, but it certainly ignited another debate. It’s an annual event that happens every spring when the stakes are higher and the games are more competitive. The losing coach seemingly always has something negative to say about game officials, and Rivers certainly knows the drill and is fine with it. He can play the “blame game,” too.

“I think [Phil is] as good, but we’re all pretty good at it,” Rivers said. “I hope that if Phil Jackson said something the day before and it happens, I hope that has nothing to do with the officials. I just hope that doesn’t, and I don’t think it does. But last night, you know, it’s funny because I thought they got away with more on the moving screens.”

Rivers thought the Lakers were given free reign to shift their position on their pick-and-rolls, which compromised the Celtics’ defense. Rivers says he has already filed an official complaint to the league regarding the non-calls.

“We got called for one last night, but I don’t think the Lakers were called for any moving picks,” Rivers said. “I don’t send in [tapes] a lot usually to the league, but I sent in a lot this morning.”

NBA referees have always heard the criticisms from players, coaches, owners and fans over the years, but it was multiplied by 10 after the Tim Donaghy incident and Commissioner David Stern hands out fines like candy to anyone who utters anything bad about his crew.

Rivers believes part of the problem stems from the fact that there are three referees during games and every player’s movement is unnecessarily scrutinized.

“When I played, it was only two officials. Back then they just called the game what they saw. Now, it’s so much more technical,” Rivers said. “In some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s not because officials won’t call it when it’s not in their area.

“But it’s tough. The game is more athletic, the game is faster and it’s brutal. We’re hard on them, everybody is hard on them. It’s a very difficult game to call. But what we all want is consistency. It’s tough to get to that, but that’s what everybody wants.”

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Doc Rivers has maintained since April that, at some point during the postseason, Nate Robinson was going to win a playoff game for the Boston Celtics.

Throughout the 2010 NBA playoffs, Rivers made it a point after almost every Celtics practice to remind Robinson to stay focused, be ready and told him to “stay engaged.” “At some point, you’re going to win a game for us,” Rivers said to the little-used point guard. “I can’t tell you when you’re gonna play, I can’t tell you if you’re gonna play.”

The Celtics coach proved to be prophetic as Robinson got his opportunity in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals and delivered a superlative game off the bench that catapulted the Celtics to a series-clinching 96-84 victory and a trip to the NBA Finals.

Robinson – the 5-foot-9 three-time slam dunk champion who was acquired by the Celtics from the New York Knicks during the trade deadline – led a Boston second unit in the second quarter that pushed the Boston lead from 11 to 21 points. He scored 13 points in nine minutes and made two huge 3-point shots that not only got the crowd excited but inspired his teammates.

Nate Robinson provides a big lift for the Celtics in the second quarter of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference finals. He scored 13 points, including two crushing 3-point shots. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

“They actually made their big run with Rondo sitting on the bench,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “That’s not a knock on Rajon Rondo. I’m not sitting up here saying they’re a better team without Rajon Rondo. But tonight they were.

“Nate Robinson was great. He’s a real talented guy,” Van Gundy added. “He scored a lot of points in New York, and what he did tonight was probably what they had in mind when they made the deal. I guess, for whatever reason, he hadn’t played much for them. But in an absolutely huge game he stepped up and played great.”

Paul Pierce, who led the Celtics with 31 points and had 13 rebounds, credited Robinson for sticking to the script and staying sharp despite the limited action.

“He kinda fell off the rotation, but my hats off to him because usually young players mentally fall out of it when they don’t play, just go through the motions in practice and really not into it because they’re worried about their time. That’s normal for a young player,” Pierce said of Robinson, who turns 26 this month. He had averaged just five minutes of court time in this year’s playoffs.

“But he kept his poise. He went to practice and got his work in, shot the ball, and did what he had to do to stay ready. Tonight his number was called and that just shows his true professionalism,” Pierce continued. “The game could have went either way at that point. We were only up by six or eight [points] and Rondo gets hurt, and he comes in and was a huge sparkplug, and really pushed the game for us.”

Rivers noted that he had already decided to give Robinson more playing time for Game 6 after he played well during the Game 5 loss in Orlando, and it became absolutely necessary when Rondo hurt his hip during the first quarter. “Even though we had played awful, [Robinson] came in and had bought into our defensive system and he was able to run a couple of sets in our system,” Rivers said.

Robinson carried over his solid Game 5 performance with an ever better one in Game 6. He was aggressive on offense and, more importantly, applied heavy pressure on Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, who struggled to a 5-for-14 evening and had just 11 points.

Orlando fought valiantly in this series and Rivers credited Van Gundy for keeping his team together even when most people had already counted them out when they fell behind 0-3.

“We got away from our game when we got behind. Unfortunately, it happens to every team. When we missed shots early, we didn’t stick with our game,” said Van Gundy, who pointed out that the first quarter was the key to the whole series.

“There’s this thing that people try to perpetuate that the NBA is fourth-quarter league, and you don’t even need to watch the first three quarters. That’s for people who don’t study at all and don’t follow NBA basketball. Go back through the years, two thirds or three quarters of the games are won by the team that wins the first quarter. It’s a first-quarter league. You gotta be ready at the start.”

The Magic fell behind 30-19 in the first quarter and played uphill the rest of the game.

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Celtics center Kendrick Perkins is a hard-nosed defender who has earned a reputation for being tough on referees. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers says Kendrick Perkins is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. So, why does this mild-mannered guy off the court keep getting whistled for technical fouls?

“I’m not gonna answer that. I’ll let you guys [the reporters] answer that,” Rivers said after Game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference finals, a game in which the Celtics’ starting center was ejected in the first half after receiving two technical fouls, which at the time gave him a league-high seven for the playoffs – an automatic one-game suspension.

After reviewing the incident, the NBA league office released a statement on Thursday and decided to rescinded the second technical foul on Perkins, clearing him to play in Game 6. However, Perkins is not out of the woods yet because one more technical and he’s off to the penalty box.

“Perk plays hard, he looks mean,” Rivers added. “He’s a great guy. I’ll leave it at that.”

Perkins was called for technical early in the first half after he bumped Magic backup center Marcin Gortat with his elbow while trying to help up teammate Paul Pierce. Then, with under a minute left in the second quarter, Perkins was called for a second technical after he argued a foul call. Even though Perkins walked away from referee Eddie Rush, Rush still served him the technical and Perkins had to leave the game.

“Didn’t think he deserved either one, but he got them. It happens,” Rivers argued. “It’s amazing we talk about this before the game, the double technical thing. Perk was bending down picking the ball up and got a tech for being around. I don’t know how he got that tech. The other tech, you know, when you argue it was awful quick but they called it. I did think that Eddie Rush realized once he called it he couldn’t rescind the tech because he had forgotten he had given him the other one. I don’t think Perk wouldn’t have gotten that one. But that happens.”

For the past three seasons, the Celtics have developed a reputation for being very tough on referees, seemingly challenging every call, and the bad perception grew even stronger this season with the addition of Rasheed Wallace, who holds the NBA record for most technicals in one season (41).

In this year’s playoffs alone, Boston has been whistled for 20 technical fouls and Perkins is the clubhouse leader with six.

“But we put ourselves in that position,” Rivers said. “Like I told our guys, you can’t make any excuses. If they don’t stand, then somebody else has to step forward and that’s just the way it is.”

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had nothing to say about Perkins’ technicals, but he did manage to bring up the two questionable flagrant foul calls on two of his players.

“I don’t call technical fouls. I don’t have any thoughts. I didn’t think Dwight deserved the flagrant foul from the last game and I didn’t think Matt Barnes deserved the flagrant four that they gave to him on Kevin Garnett.”

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Like a boxer who just got knocked down twice in the last two rounds, the Boston Celtics return home for Game 6 with a couple of bad headaches, an aching back and a little bit of doubt in their ability to knock out the suddenly surging Orlando Magic in the 2010 Eastern Conference finals.

When asked if the Celtics could fall into the same fate as this year’s Boston Bruins – who lost four consecutive games to the Philadelphia Flyers after winning the first three in their Stanley Cup playoff matchup – Celtics forward and vocal leader Kevin Garnet emphatically said, “This is not hockey.”

Boston still leads its best-of-seven series with Orlando, 3-2, but its position has been compromised a bit with the way the Magic have won the last two games. And, with the mounting injuries and possible suspension of starting center Kendrick Perkins after he received his sixth and seventh technical fouls of the playoffs, the Celtics went from a possible sweep to a must-win situation in three days.

Celtics forward Glen Davis lies on the court disoriented after taking an elbow to the head from Magic center Dwight Howard in the third quarter of Game 5. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

The Celtics took one on the head literally in Game 5 when two players, Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels, suffered concussions and both had to be helped off the court.

Davis caught an inadvertent Dwight Howard elbow to the face late in the third quarter that knocked him down to the floor. When he tried to get back up, he staggered into the arms of referee Joey Crawford before teammate Rasheed Wallace came over to help keep him up. Davis walked off the court under his own power but never returned.

Just minutes after Davis’ injury, Daniels slammed his head into the chest of Magic backup center Marcin Gortat and went down to the floor. The Celtics were forced to foul just to get Daniels off the court, and Rivers said later that the backup guard also blacked out for a moment. Then, with the game well in hand, Wallace tweaked his lower back on a layup and he also had to leave the game and went to the locker room to get treatment.

“I know [Baby] blacked out on the floor. I was just trying to get him back down on offense. And Marquis was the same thing. A lot of elbows,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, whose team lost 113-92 in Game 5 in Orlando. Boston’s lead is down to 3-2 in the series and Game 6 now becomes a critical game for the Celtics because they want to avoid playing a Game 7 in Orlando.

Rivers is not sure about “Big Baby” Davis’ availability for Game 6, and joked that Davis may not pass the battery of tests anyway because of his wacky personality. “I don’t know what kind of tests they’re gonna do with Baby because he’s a little delirious half the time anyway so I don’t know how he’s going to pass the test. I’m worried about that,” Rivers said while cracking smiling. “But I guess he’ll have to do something before they clear him.”

Game 5 took a physical toll on the Celtics and it appears that the Magic, particularly Howard, are now the ones dishing out the punishment. “The team that’s been the most physical has won the games,” Rivers said. “It was us for the first three and I think it’s been Orlando the last two.”

As for Howard’s physicality and his loose elbows, Rivers said while shrugging his shoulders, “I didn’t know it was legal. Listen, he’s a physical guy. We know that, and you know what he should be. That’s his gift. So he’s going what he’s should do and we just need to do a better job to take the hits, I guess.”

Howard disputed any dirty tactics on his part or his team, and explained that being physical is the best way to combat the Celtics.

“Our intent is not to hurt anybody out there,” Howard told reporters. “Basketball is a very physical sport. You’re playing against a very physical and tough team in the Boston Celtics so our biggest thing is not try to fight and wrestle with them. Like I tell [my teammates], it’s all mental. We don’t want to get into a pushing match with those guys. We just want to run and play our game.”

Howard added that he certainly did not intend to hurt Davis and he was just as concerned as everyone else.

“At first, when I got back, I was looking for him because that was my man. Then when I saw him down I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ I didn’t know what to do,” Howard recalled. “I wanted to help him, but he’s on the other team. So I just stayed back and just wait. I just hope he’s OK. He’s one of my friends. You don’t want to see anybody, specially your friend, go down like that.”

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Doc Rivers recently sat down with the Real Training Camp crew for NBA TV and gave his state-of-the-Celtics address. He talked about the health of his All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, the addition of forward-center Rasheed Wallace and his expectations for this upcoming season.

On the health of KG: “He looks great. He’s got shin problems and that has bothered him a little, but other than that he’s played great. He’s better than what I thought he’d be.”

On Rasheed Wallace: “Rasheed is a grown man. I’m not gonna change Rasheed. I’m not even gonna try. Rasheed Wallace is a great team player. We love his personality and it’s a good thing for us.”

On his defense: “If we defend, we got a chance to win. We’re gonna score points, but if we don’t defend we’re not winning. We’ll win a lot of games but we won’t be a winner. And we’re trying to be a winner here. That’s the only reason why we’re together; that’s the only reason why we went out and got Rasheed and Marquis Daniels. That’s our goal, to be the last team playing and the only way you do that is with defense.”

Rivers added: “We want to be a great defensive team. We felt like the last two years we have been. But there’s another level that we can get to. Bottom line is this…when you talk football and you say ‘best defensive team to ever play?’ You think ’85 Bears. We want to be there someday. We want to be in that argument. We want to be better than first. I don’t know what that number is, but we want Usain Bolt First.”

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