Tony

Battie

Battie has been out with a bruised thigh.

Battie’s knee is well enough for him to play, but the thigh could keep him out tonight.

It was only a mild sprain and Battie was able to return. However, due to all of his injuries, he’s not currently the player he was at the start of the year.

The starting center missed the game with another flare-up of his sore right knee, the 11th time this season that Battie has been unable to go because of knee problems. Apparently, the knee worsened between Friday’s practice and game time. Battie said Friday that there had been only a minimal increase in tenderness after back-to-backs against Washington and Philadelphia. He expects to play in the Celtics’ final two regular-season contests, tonight at Miami and Wednesday against Detroit. “We’ll see how [Battie] feels [tonight],” said coach Jim O’Brien, who started Mark Blount(4 points in 18 minutes) in Battie’s place.

It’s uncertain whether Battie will play in Boston’s next preseason game.

All that is really known in Boston is that Paul Pierce will be the primary scoring option, probably as the small forward, while Raef LaFrentz will be option number two as the center. Tony Battie may slide over to power forward, to the extent his knees allow. The other positions may be dictated by matchups. Coach Jim O’Brien said: ''(Saturday) night if (the Pacers) had their whole team I was going to start Eric Williams because I think he matches up best with (Ron) Artest. It’s a luxury to have a set lineup, (but) you don’t always have the advantage of luxuries, so you do with what you think is going to win games and make you a better team in the long run.’' Drafting Celtics other than Pierce and LaFrentz is a very risky proposition at the moment.

“It was good news,” coach Jim O’Brien said. “There’s no tear. There’s no really bad stuff happening. They should be able to get him back onto the court in very quick order. They’re going to get the swelling in his knee down with just some therapy.” Battie is going to have knee troubles from time to time this year, making him a fringe player in fantasy leagues.

Coach Jim O’Brien said the move was precautionary, but it’s not a great sign that Battie’s knees are already causing him pain.

The talks went nowhere, and the deal is now considered dead.

Battie sat out yesterday’s practice, which coach Jim O’Brien called ''a return to the way it was last year,’' when Battie would be required to rest the knee as much as possible.