But Danny Ainge made it official Thursday, announcing that Rondo will make his season debut in the Celtics' Friday game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Ceitics posted on their Twitter account: "Danny Ainge announces that barring any setbacks today, Rajon Rondo is expected to play in tomorrow's game against the Lakers."

Rondo hasn't played in a game since Jan. 25, when he suffered the right knee injury in the second half of a contest against the Atlanta Hawks.

In Rondo's absence, the makeup of the Celtics has taken on an entirely different form. First, there was the big trade of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets and this latest three-team deal brings in Joel Anthony but sends Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the Golden State Warriors.

What the Celtics have put themselves in position to do is build a team around Rondo because they have obtained a number of quality draft picks through trades.

For now, though, the team is focused on getting Rondo back to full strength. He has been rehabbing for almost a year now, with his latest test coming in a brief D-League workout with the Maine Red Claws.

Following that showing, the Celtics determined Rondo was prepared to play in the Celtics' next game.

"He looked good and he's ready to play," Ainge said. "That's all I was looking for."

On the court, Rondo is expected to play about five minutes per quarter, according to Ainge. He doesn't think Rondo will take it easy in his comeback, however, as Ainge said he thinks Rondo will be quicker and compete harder than people expect.

What the Celtics are sure to get is one of the best passers in basketball. Rondo has averages of 11.1 points and 8.3 assists over his career, but put up double-digit assists numbers over the past three years.

"He gets the ball to people better than anybody around," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "But I don't think we can expect him to be Game 7 Rajon Rondo."


ALL-STAR SLEEVES


The NBA All-Stars will wear jerseys with sleeves during this season's midseason celebration in New Orleans.



The NBA and athletic apparel giant Adidas revealed the All-Star game uniforms Thursday. The NBA All-Star game is scheduled for Feb. 16.

The Eastern Conference will wear blue and the West will wear red, but the jerseys will feature Mardi Gras colors — green and purple. The NBA All-Star logo appears on the chest of the jerseys in the shape of the fleur-de-lis, the official symbol of Louisiana.


YOUNG SUSPENDED


Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young has been suspended one game without pay for his reaction to a foul committed against him in Wednesday's game against the Phoenix Suns, the NBA announced.

He will not play against the Boston Celtics on Friday because he threw a punch at Suns guard Goran Dragic in the second quarter of the Lakers' 121-114 loss.

Young was knocked out of the air on a dunk attempt when Suns rookie Alex Len tried to block his shot. Len, who was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and fined $15,000, made contact with Young and the Lakers guard went falling to the ground.



In the aftermath of that foul, Young angrily rose to his feet and exchanged shoves with Suns players, including Len and Marcus Morris, who was fined $25,000 for escalating the incident.

Young's attack on Dragic happened near the end of the scuffle, and the Suns guard was not involved in the situation before Young approached him.


NELSON FINED


Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson has become the latest NBA player to receive a fine for doing the "big balls dance," which is typically done after a guy hits a big shot.

The NBA has fined Nelson $15,000 for making an obscene gesture, one that has been made all over the NBA and received the same treatment. Players are well aware that they face fine for doing the move at this point.



For Nelson, it came after a step-back jumper that pushed Wedneday's game against the Chicago Bulls to a 101-101 tie with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The shot, which appeared serious at the moment, would fall to the wayside as the team battled and battled until the Bulls had won 128-125 in triple-overtime.

Nelson finished the game with 31 points and 10 assists in 54 minutes. His teammate, rookie Victor Oladipo played 57 minutes and Bulls guard Jimmy Butler played 60 minutes, so there was obviously a lot of basketball played in Orlando.

After all of that, the bullet points will be the high minutes played and Nelson's fine on the subsequent day.

Contributors: DeAntae Prince, The Associated Press

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