PHOENIX — The scouting report on the newest Boston Celtic Jordan Crawford, is pretty simple.

He is a scorer who likes to take shots - good ones, bad ones, and everything in between.

And yet here he finds himself with the Boston Celtics, a team that prides itself on strong defensive play - something that has never been considered a strength of Crawford's game.

But in being traded to Boston, you can add defense to list of perceived flaws in Crawford's game that he's out to change.

He will get his first shot at that tonight against the Phoenix Suns.

While Doc Rivers has no definitive plan as to how Crawford will be used, Rivers did say Friday morning that the 6-foot-4 guard would play tonight against the Suns.

"Come in, be myself and help this team," was how Crawford described what his role will be with the C's. "They're doing a great job, pulling out wins with a depleted lineup; just come in and try and help whatever they need."

Throughout most of his playing days, Crawford's best contributions often involve him scoring.

The Celtics have a number of big-time scorers already such as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry.

But as much as they are all praised for their scoring, they have all shown the ability to impact the game at times in a positive fashion with their defense.

Being able to strike that balance is yet another lesson Crawford would benefit greatly from in learning.

"You don't want to take anything away from their offense; that's who they are," Rivers said. "But they still, basketball by the way, there's two ends. You don't just get to play one. And that's just it. There's guys ... all the great scorers in the league defend, too. [Kevin] Durant defends. LeBron [James] defends. So you have to do it."

While Rivers certainly wants him to improve his defense, he understands that Crawford is indeed a scorer at heart who won't need much prodding to start taking shots.

"He's a scorer. Most scorers don't have a conscience," Rivers said. "And that's a good thing. What you try to teach him, is the difference between a good one and a bad one.

Rivers added, "but you don't want to take away ... but if he's a great scorer, great scorers make bad shots. So a lot of times you just live with it, unless it's hurting the team."

And that brings us back to Crawford, who has spent the bulk of his two-plus NBA seasons with the woeful Washington Wizards.

"I'm looking forward to being in a new situation to play," Crawford said. "And to help this team win like they've been winning for years."

Crawford's contributions are yet to be determined, but one thing that is not up for debate - his extremely high level of confidence in his game.

At times, Crawford's confidence borders on outright cockiness which didn't always go over well in Washington with his teammates or the team's front office.

Feeling as though he was the best player on the floor isn't necessarily a bad thing in Rivers' eyes.

"I hope he still thinks that; but I hope he's realistic," Rivers said. "I like guys who think they're better than everybody on the floor; or at least they can talk themselves into being better that night. I want all our guys to think that way."