Rivers ‘leaning heavily toward coming back’

The hottest coaching commodity in the NBA isn’t even on the market.

The hottest coaching commodity has a job. The question is whether or not he wants to keep it.

Doc Rivers broke his silence on the matter last night.

“I’m leaning heavily toward coming back,’’ the Celtics coach said after his season ended with a 97-87 loss to the Heat in Game 5 last night. “I made up my mind the last couple of weeks. I’m a Celtic. I’m competitive, as well. I love our guys.

“Listen, there’s been a contract for basically three months there,’’ Rivers added. “Danny [Ainge] and Wyc [Grousbeck] have been on the other side of patience. It gave us a long time to talk about it as a family. I haven’t signed anything or done anything but it’s there and I probably will sign it.

“We only got one [child] left at the house and he basically told me he didn’t want me home. It will be easier and that’s one of the things for my family because it’s only Austin playing and Spencer. The other two are graduated from college. And it will be less travel in a lot of ways and they can come see me more because my wife only has one kid in the house. So that’s big for us. I told [Wyc] one of the games here, whatever you figure out with [my agent], I’ll probably do it.’’

Make no mistake. It’s a given in the minds of every NBA observer that Rivers would have his pick of jobs should he come to the conclusion that he has gone far enough with the one he has.

For the last four years it has been a good job. But you don’t need that proverbial PhD in Hoopology to know that it’s not going to be a plum job for much longer. The Big Three are getting up there in age, and Ainge will soon have a lot of rebuilding to do. Why should Doc put himself through that?

The man could not be in a better position. He won’t turn 50 until Oct. 13, which means he has a long shelf life as an NBA coach. The best part is that he is under absolutely no pressure to do anything. He can do whatever he likes.

Who among us hasn’t been speculating for a long time now that the 2011-12 season would be a perfect time for Rivers to kick back, take a year off, maybe grab a little broadcast gig if he likes — don’t forget that he was a top-of-the-line color man — and go see son Austin play for Duke? And when he’s not doing that, he could watch son Spencer play for his high school team. And when he’s not doing that, he could go watch daughter Callie play professional volleyball.

That’s all before we even discuss the impending lockout and the very real possibility that it may be well into 2012 before we see a real, live NBA game.

It’s not as if by taking a year off anyone in the NBA is going to forget just who Glenn “Doc’’ Rivers is. Every general manager has his cellphone number; you can count on that.

Rivers was always well thought of, but in the last year or so his reputation has grown exponentially. Coaching a championship team (2008) will enhance anyone’s résumé, and people likewise took notice when the Celtics extended the Magic to seven games without Kevin Garnett the following year.

Things really took a turn skyward last year, when the Celtics surprised the basketball world by coming within 94 seconds of beating the Lakers for what would have been championship No. 18. Doc’s stock soared.

He began his NBA career as a coaching prodigy, a 36-year-old player-turned-broadcaster-turned-coach who took an Orlando team picked to finish last and almost got it into the playoffs. For this he was named Coach of the Year in 2000.

The coaching business being among the more volatile ways of making a living in American society, he was introduced to the flip side three years later, when a team that was supposed to be built around Grant Hill didn’t have Grant Hill and got off to a brutal start (1-10). At that point, the Magic made Doc Rivers an ex-coach.

That bumpy ending in Orlando didn’t deter Ainge, who brought Rivers to Boston, a city where Rivers first attracted attention a little over two decades earlier by putting on the best guard show ever at one of the Boston Shootouts.

It has certainly been an interesting ride here. For one thing, Doc Rivers is the only coach in the history of the NBA who presided over an 18-game losing streak one year and was able to hoist the championship trophy the next. It was primarily about the players, of course. That’s always the case.

But it was also about recognizing what had to be done in order to make those marquee players into a unit. It was about having the prescience to take the Big Three on that Duck Boat ride to give them a teeny taste of what winning a championship in Boston would be like. It was about trotting out the “Ubuntu’’ theme. It was about classic personnel management, of knowing how to adjust to the whims and habits and aspirations of proud veterans. It was about recognizing the special talents of Rajon Rondo, talents that were accompanied by a very peculiar psyche that Doc is still trying to probe to this day.

It was about making it clear that any team success was going to start with defense, and then getting everyone involved to buy into what he was selling. Whatever he was selling, it must have been appealing, because no Celtics team ever played harder from the first exhibition to the final 131-92 Game 6 destruction of the Lakers than the 2007-08 edition. I can state that categorically. The 1985-86 team was better, but it took nights off. Doc’s 2007-08 team took no nights off.

It was about Doc maturing as a coach. He has to be 50 percent better at every aspect of coaching than he was in Orlando.

The word is out. There may be an NBA player or two who wouldn’t want to play for Doc Rivers, but I can’t imagine who it would be. His people skills and his sheer humanity separate him from the pack.

Why should he stay? The situation here is only going to deteriorate. He is at the perfect point in his professional life to take a year off and then see what new, challenging opportunities present themselves. He has given the Celtics great service. Then again, I’m sure he feels a sense of loyalty to his core group. But they’re all big boys. They would understand.

Doc Rivers is in an enviable position, but it’s only because he has earned it.

Time on Celtics’ side between series

The Celtics [team stats] took the first of two days off. They’ll begin practice tomorrow and watch the Miami Heat play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers [team stats] tomorrow night.

Their viewing pleasure may even be extended, should the Sixers somehow win and force a Game 6 on Friday night in Philadelphia.

Game 7 in Miami on Sunday? That’s generally assumed to be the day and place where Game 1 of the Eastern Conference second-round series begins between the Celtics and Heat, but right now it seems a month removed.

The Celtics get to prepare, rest, go out to dinner, play with the kids and prepare some more.

Those horrid back-to-back swings of the regular season aren’t coming back.

The Celtics aren’t kidding when they say that this is their time of year. With at least a week between their Game 4 win Sunday against the Knicks and their next game, they can prepare as if it’s training camp all over again, minus the bus ride to Salve Regina.

“It’s going to get us more healthy, and it will give the Big Four a chance to get their rest,” Jeff Green said as he hurried out of the locker room Sunday in New York to meet some friends and family. “It just gives us an opportunity to get our chemistry going.”

That is the bit of unfinished business that has to be tended to during the next six days.

The bench finally played well in Game 4, and especially where the performances of Green (five points, seven rebounds) and Glen Davis (14 points, five rebounds, 6-for-8 shooting) were concerned. Overall, the bench scored 25 points, after averaging 12.3 points in the first three games.

Delonte West played better in Game 4, but he still hasn’t produced one of his classic energy games. Nenad Krstic no longer makes appearances after halftime.

If this is what constitutes depth for the Celtics, then they have a lot to work on.

And then there’s the ongoing mystery of Shaquille O’Neal to worry about. His possible return for the second round will require a reconfiguring as well.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us — a lot of work,” said Jermaine O’Neal, whose own progress in the starting lineup has helped revive the C’s defensive soul. “We’re going to take the next day and a half off, some guys are coming in on Tuesday, but we’re not even halfway there yet. We have much bigger plans than just getting into the second round.”

Nor do they want to expire among the palm trees on South Beach. The 100-77 pounding they suffered April 10 in Miami aside, the Celtics still consider the Heat a good matchup, one they can improve on with the extra time for preparation.

The rest will help tremendously, because coach Doc Rivers won’t have to worry as much about extending minutes for Paul Pierce [stats], Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.

“We make story lines either way,” Allen said. “You talk about going from one series to the next series without any rest. Or you can have so much time off. For us the rest is good.”

Dating back to 2008, when the Celtics [team stats] didn’t even win a playoff road game until the conference finals on their way to the NBA title, they never have had this kind of gap between rounds. It’s uncharted territory.

“I think we talk ourselves into either way something is going to be good for us,” Allen said of the rest vs. no rest debate. “We’ll talk ourselves into it, whether we have no rest or there’s plenty of it. It’s all mental. The guys that we’re bringing along, the seventh and eighth guys on the team — that’s where it helps us a lot.”

It sounds good in theory, anyway.

“With our team you never know,” Rivers said. “Honestly I think it’s great, but who knows? We know that we’ve played well when we’ve had rest.”

NBA roundup: Celtics bounce Knicks in 4; Sixers stay alive

NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics made the New York Knicks' return to the postseason a brief one.

Now the Celtics have a long break before that expected trip to Miami.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and the Celtics swept their way into the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding on for a 101-89 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.

Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points with nine rebounds and ex-Piston Chauncey Billups (sprained knee) did not play.

New Orleans 93, L.A. Lakers 88: Chris Paul scored 27 points with 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the host Hornets evened their first-round playoff series at 2-2. Paul scored 14 of New Orleans' 24 points in the fourth quarter. The All-Star guard then capped his triple-double performance by running down the clock and setting up Jarrett Jack's short jumper, which made it 90-86 with 9.3 seconds left. Kobe Bryant scored 17 for the Lakers but did not score in the first half and finished 5 of 18 shooting.

Philadelphia 86, Miami 82: Lou Williams hit a three-pointer with 8.1 seconds left to help the host 76ers avoid a sweep. Miami was 95 seconds away from winning Game 4, holding an 82-76 lead. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat didn't score again. Jrue Holiday made a three with 46.6 seconds left that sliced the deficit to one. Williams followed with a three from the top of the arc for an 84-82 lead.

Atlanta 88, Orlando 85: Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson made four big free throws in the final 20 seconds for the host Hawks. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 29 points and 17 rebounds.

Rose's woes: Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose had a walking boot on his left foot Sunday and was scheduled for an MRI on his sprained ankle. Rose sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter Saturday; the Bulls hope to have him available for Tuesday's Game 5.