Pierce ‘probably' won't travel to Toronto with C's

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BOSTONThe Boston Celtics preseason begins Sunday at Toronto, and there will be at least one key player who probably won't make the trip.

Paul Pierce, who has been dealing with a right heel injury throughout training, will not play in Sunday's game against the Raptors, though Celticsteam trainer Ed Lacerte thought Pierce's heel may be improved to where he could play at Toronto.

"But why take the chance of going from no practice to playing in an exhibition game," Rivers said. "We're probably going to leave him back."

Rivers, speaking to the media prior to Thursday's practice, said there's a chance that Rajon Rondo (right ankle) may not play in the preseason opener at Toronto, either.

Rivers said Rondo was expected to participate in some drills on Thursday, but "I'm not going to let him go through anything live."

The C's are also taking a wait-and-see approach on deciding if Rondo will participate in the team's scrimmage tomorrow.

"Rondo may play Sunday, but I don't know that," Rivers said. "But Paul's definitely not."

Another Celtic dealing with some level of soreness, is Sasha Pavlovic. The 6-foot-6 guard has a mild sprain of his left wrist.Rivers said he's surprised Pavlovic's injury wasn't any worse.

"Sasha, he got flipped pretty bad in the air yesterday and landed on his hand," Rivers said. "It looks like he'll give it a go. Other than that, just same thing here, everywhere else, strains, things, and poor play."

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