THE BOX OUT PICK AND POPS 1. The Knicks' persistence to be included in the East's "race" for the eighth spot really makes you wonder what might have been for New Yorkers if Antonio McDyess was healthy. 2. Welcome back, Marc Jackson, who's getting minutes again due to Rasho Nesterovic's sprained ankle. Jackson's numbers in back-to-back Wolves wins: 12.5 points and 12 rebounds in 31.0 minutes. QUOTE OF THE DAY “How the (bleep) did Mike Bibby make the team?" —Shaquille O'Neal on Bibby's Team USA selection ... just in time for Round 3 of Lakers-Kings at Arco Arena on Thursday. NUMBER OF THE DAY 43.0 The scoring average of Allan Houston the last two games -- both victories -- to give some credence to the playoff talk in New York. TRASH TALK You have something to say? Then say it below. But keep it clean. And include your hometown AND state. Name: E-Mail: City/State: Your comment:

BOSTON -- He nods confidently when asked if he totally understands the enormity of the situation he's in, even when franchise royalty like Red Auerbach drops by his locker to whisper a couple words of encouragement. He says he knows what's coming, especially when he goes up against guys like Jason Kidd and Baron Davis in regular-season games that finally matter.

But conventional wisdom calls J.R. Bremer a liar. Because nothing -- nothing -- can possibly prepare the rookie point guard for the task awaiting him: successfully lead the Boston Celtics in the playoffs with absolutely no postseason experience.

"I don't know what to look forward to or what's ahead, except that I know that it's going to be hard," Bremer said. "I'm just going to try to run the team the best I can."

Coach Jim O'Brien would settle for the duplication of Kenny Anderson's surprising performance in last year's playoffs, when Anderson helped guide the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals. In addition to the menial chores of a point guard, Anderson emerged as a viable third scoring threat, averaging 12 points a game behind Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker.

That's where Bremer fits in the most. Like Anderson, Bremer was a big-time scorer in college at St. Bonaventure. Like the rest of the Celtics, Bremer never met a 3-point shot he thought he couldn't make.

After attempting just 17 3-pointers his first two months in the league, Bremer has hoisted 187 threes in his last 33 games since being lifted off the end of the bench, making 39 percent of them. His .368 3-point percentage overall is second among rookies (behind Mike Dunleavy's .374) and ranks third on the Celtics (ahead of Walker and Pierce).

"My job is to run the team, play defense and knock down open shots when the guys get doubled," Bremer said. "Paul and Antoine are always getting doubled, so I just have to hit the shot."

The Celtics started the season with shooters at the point, but Tony Delk and Shammond Williams neither provided the offensive fluidity or the defensive intensity O'Brien sought. Changes came after a 2-7 holiday skid. Bremer was promoted to the starting lineup, Williams was demoted and later dealt at the trade deadline to Denver and Bimbo Coles was brought in as insurance.

Bremer's assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.79 is better than Anderson's 2.71 ratio in last year's playoffs. But can Bremer make the right decisions when he gets his first taste of walk-it-up, playoff basketball when everything comes to a halt like traffic in the Callaghan Tunnel.

"It all depends on who you got behind you," said Sam Cassell, who played the point as a rookie reserve on the first of Houston's back-to-back title teams in the mid-'90s. "When you have a dominant big guy, it's not hard at all."

OK, Bremer doesn't have the luxury of an Hakeem Olajuwon. His confidence is increasing on the court, though, despite what his ugly one-point, 0-for-7 outing in Tuesday's blowout loss to New Jersey may suggest.

"I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable than in the beginning," Bremer said. "My teammates are really making me feel that way. I don't know if there was an exact point -- as each game went by, I started to feel more and more comfortable."

Acceptance of the rookie is growing in Boston, too -- "J.R. Bremer Trading Card Night" was held Tuesday at the Fleet Center -- but there are the daily doses of reality that reminds Bremer of who he is, especially when he can't dress in front of his own locker because of the media mob overflowing from Walker's postgame powwow.

An impressive playoff debut will certainly have some of those cameras and microphones pointed his way.

"It's donned on me but it hasn't really hit me," Bremer said of his seemingly impossible mission. "I know once the playoffs start, I'll get myself mentally ready for that."

Joe Lago, the NBA editor for ESPN.com, writes the Morning Shootaround every Wednesday.