Prior to the appearance, Cassell had gone four straight games without playing via the dreaded DNP-coach’s decision.

“It’s very frustrating,” Cassell said yesterday when asked if the lack of playing time was difficult to deal with.

“This is my first year (in the NBA) that I sat out in a playoff game,” Cassell said. “I didn’t get any playing time in four games. That’s my first time ever. It boggles not just me but anyone around, like, ‘Why’s he not playing?’ I’m not discouraged, but it’s tough, ain’t no lie. It was tough because I know I can play.

“All of this is brand new for me. I’ve never been in this situation before. I understand (it), and it’s a role that it takes time to get comfortable with. I’m not complaining about it, but it just takes time to get comfortable in the role.”

Here's the complication: Sloan needs to give the Jazz some idea as to his coaching plans beyond just his annual sojourn back to the farm for his year-to-year soul-searching, the reason being that there are gifted coaching prospects who might want to know that timetable. Jeff Hornacek is one of them. Ty Corbin is another. What's John Stockton doing nowadays? Larry Miller has said he prefers Sloan's successor to have significant ties and some tradition with the club. He's also said longtime assistant Phil Johnson has first crack at it. But Johnson is older than Sloan, who is 66. Is that the fresh business direction the Jazz want to take in a couple of years, if that's what it will be? Meanwhile, promising and knowledgeable guys like Hornacek and Corbin are interviewing for other head coaching jobs, including at Phoenix and Chicago.

Bucks forward Yi Jianlian will not train with the Chinese national team during sessions this week due to injuries suffered during the NBA season, according to a Shanghai Daily report.

Bucks assistant coach Bill Peterson will be in Guangzhou for a Nike-sponsored camp this week and is expected to observe a Chinese team practice session and meet with Yi.

If Ray Allen appears a bit bleary-eyed these days, he has a good reason. It’s not his erratic jump shot or the pressure of playoff basketball. He simply does not get much sleep.

Allen said yesterday that, home or away, he’s not a big sleeper. Coming home after an exciting playoff game keeps Allen wired into the wee hours of the morning.

“I went to bed at probably five o’clock in the morning and that’s pretty consistent,” he said yesterday at the team’s hotel. “You turn the TV on and get wrapped up in the program. Your body is tired but mentally you’re wired.”

Allen admits he can sit and brood after a loss or smile after a win like Saturday night’s. But he doesn’t fall asleep.

“You sleep easier (after a win) but you still don’t go to sleep,” he said. “There’s something about going from a building that’s full of 20,000 people, especially a late game. You come back to the hotel and you’re just so wired. You get to the room at one-thirty, two o’clock and you can’t go to sleep. There’s so many thoughts in your mind.”

At home, Allen has one remedy to get him to bed. Laughing. He says that he read once where laughing can help you relax and lets you live longer. “Like George Burns and Bob Hope,” he said.

"I put this one on myself," Lamar Odom announces. "I take the blame, totally, for this game."

The Lakers had just lost Sunday to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, a 103-84 whipping that doubled as a three-hour embarrassment for their powerless power forward.

Who calmly wipes the sweat from his bald head and keeps the heat on.

"There is no way I can play like that," he says. "I've got to play better than that."

Paxson said he's interested in hearing how each candidate would employ the talent on the Bulls' roster. That the Bulls were ready to offer the job to former Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who had little use for defense in Phoenix, came as a surprise, particularly because Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf insists his next coach will be defensive-minded.

''I've been open-minded since the D'Antoni thing went by the wayside,'' Paxson said last week. ''I remain open-minded. I'll know when I sit down with somebody and talk philosophy if there's a connection there.''

"If you tell me before the game that we're going to hold Paul Pierce to 11 points, I'd say, well, we're going to have a pretty good chance to win this game," Saunders said. "(Prince) might not be getting off, but when he's guarding Paul Pierce and he's limiting his offense, that's pretty good. Granted, was he doing things offensively? No, he struggled, as the whole team did."

Saunders also gave Prince a pass because he's often getting the ball in late-shot-clock situations and forced to take a tough shot.

The Detroit Pistons have a versatile roster, but they haven't spent a lot of time playing "small ball" until the playoffs.

While it has hurt the Pistons on the boards, playing a three-guard lineup helped them pull out a Game 2 win at Boston on Thursday, and kept Detroit from getting blown out in their 94-80 Game 3 loss on Saturday.

It remains to be seen how Detroit's smaller lineup will affect the Pistons in their Game 4 matchup with Boston tonight.

"It's tough, because we really haven't done it that much," said Tayshaun Prince, who slides over to the power forward position when Detroit goes with a three-guard set. "We've done it maybe seven, eight games out of the whole season."

Pistons coach Flip Saunders has gone with the smaller lineup to try and speed up the game, maybe force a few turnovers.

But more than anything else, he has gone with the three-guard setup because of Rodney Stuckey's emergence.

"We've got to play him, play him somewhere," Saunders said.

Simply put, Billups must do was he does -- lead the Pistons. It starts with him being aggressive, forcing his will early. Granted, Billups hasn't been totally healthy after injuring his right hamstring against the Magic in Game 3 of the second round. After resting nearly 10 days, Billups looked tentative in Game 1 vs. Boston.

In Game 2, Billups had 19 points, including a huge basket with 10 seconds to go to seal the victory. But in Game 3, Billups appeared to slip back to his passive mode from Game 1. Some believe Billups is still injured. Billups is tired of answering questions about it.

"I just don't want it to be an issue," Billups said. "And as much as it is, I don't want it to be. I don't want to keep talking about it. The bottom line is that I have to play better, we have to play better. Whether it's still hurt or not, I still have to play through it. That's what I intend on doing."

"The one thing this series has proven is that the team that can sustain their energy over the course of the game will win," coach Flip Saunders said. "We can't have anything less than all-out, throw-your-bodies-on-the-floor type energy - point-blank.

"At some point you throw out Xs and Os and it becomes about exerting your will."

Also, at some point for the Pistons, it has to be about not spotting the Celtics an early lead.

"It's about coming out early and setting the tone - same old, same old," Hamilton said. "We didn't beat Philly when they came out, 8-0, to start the game. We didn't beat Orlando when they came out, 8-0, and we aren't going to beat Boston when they come out, 11-0."

For Barry, what felt best was making a big contribution in a game the Spurs desperately needed. He got his earliest call of the series, entering with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter. He scored only six points, both on 3-pointers, but added four assists in 21 minutes and 21 seconds.

“I thought Brent was really valuable,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He really makes the offense tick. Good passer, reads the situations very well, and I thought he played a fine game for us tonight.”

Pierce described the playoff road struggles as a "gorilla" on the Celtics' backs. Guard Ray Allen also said the woes were a "little monstrous." But with the win at Detroit, Boston washed away all that doubt and regained its swagger away from TD Banknorth Garden.

"It feels good to get a win," Pierce said. "But you got to win four games. I'll feel even happier if we won the series. It's a great win, especially on the road in a tough environment. But we got to win two more."

Said Allen, "With each [road loss] the animal grew. Whether we talked about it or not, everybody else talked about it, [but] it was going to be the deciding factor to whether we were successful or not."

I HAVEN'T the foggiest notion whom the KnicksNew York Knicks plan to draft. At the same time, I guarantee Donnie Walsh will not surrender his first rounder (No. 6, overall) for the express purpose of liquidating a loathsome contract, as certain hysterical media mopes hypothesize . . . and continue to be employed.