BOSTON -- Kris Joseph reached into the cabinet of his locker and pulled out a loosely folded dollar bill.
"It's still here," he said in delight. "I still got my luck buck."
The Boston Celtics called up the rookie swingman from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, on Friday following the ruling of Rajon Rondo's two-games suspension. Joseph was assigned to the D-League on November 14 and left a memento behind when he left.
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"I put it in there preseason," he said of the dollar. "I didn't have to do it in college (Syracuse University) because I knew I was going to be there four years or whenever I was ready to leave. It's for all type of luck, health, wealth, all the good stuff. I'm going to leave it there all season."
After appearing in just one game for the Celtics in which he played three minutes on November 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Joseph saw a drastic increase in action with the Red Claws. He averaged 39.0 minutes, 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks in two games with the team.
"I learned that 48 minutes is a long time when you're playing basketball," Joseph said. "Never to get too high, never get too low during a basketball game. Just stay right there in the middle, control your emotions because you could be down 10, 15 points early, but that doesn't mean anything because there's still a lot of basketball."
Joseph played five minutes in the fourth quarter of the Celtics 96-78 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. He was aggressive with his shot (0-3 FG) and scored two points off free throws.
"It felt good," he simply put it as he prepared for his flight to Milwaukee with his NBA team.