Ricky Buckets gets love in Beantown.
At least more than Mark Blount.

What a difference The Truth makes. Boston’s double-OT win over Minnesota yesterday makes it four in a row for the Celtics, who don’t look completely terrible now that Paul Pierce is back. Delonte West dropped 31 points and 10 dimes for the C’s, while Al Jefferson scored 20. Throughout the game it was clear that Mark Blount was totally overmatched trying to guard Big Al, only Jefferson wasn’t being fed the rock. He seriously might have scored 40 had he gotten more looks. Boston color guy Tommy Heinsohn was practically threatening Doc Rivers if he didn’t keep pounding the ball inside to exploit the Jefferson/Blount mismatch. When Blount fouled out in overtime, Craig Smith came in and immediately did a better job sticking Al … With under 10 ticks left in regulation, Troy Hudson hit a trey to tie it up. Boston tried to get Pierce free for a game-winner on its next possession, but when that didn’t work, Delonte had to chuck a three that drew nothing by rim. With Minnesota down by three with time winding down in the first overtime, Ricky Davis shockingly decided not to take a horrible three (he was double-covered and off-balance) that probably would have hit the shot clock, and instead gave it to Kevin Garnett (33 pts, 13 rebs, 10 asts) who stuck the three-ball to tie it. The Wolves didn’t play around on Boston’s next possession, sticking KG on Pierce, since you knew Pierce was gonna take the shot. And here was play-by-play guy Mike Gorman’s call: “Pierce — so we can all go home — no.” … The Boston fans were booing Blount all day, but spared Ricky Buckets (35 pts) for some reason. Probably has something to do with effort, or at least perceived effort … Heinsohn suggested that Pierce has lost two inches off his vertical since the foot injury, and that’s why his jumper has been off lately .. Crazy finish in D.C. Down by two with 2.9 seconds left, Gilbert Arenas went to shoot over Mickael Pietrus and got the whistle. Don Nelson went nuts at the call and was given a T, which gave Arenas three free throws and a chance to win the game with 0.1 showing on the clock. Bottom, bottom, Warriors timeout, bottom, ball game. Agent Zero finished with 32 points, 5 boards and 6 dimes, while J-Rich led GS with 28, 10 boards, 8 assists and 3 blocks … In Milwaukee, the Bucks blew an 18-point fourth quarter lead and found themselves down by one with 8 seconds left against Chicago. Michael Redd missed a fadeaway off the inbounds, but Ruben Patterson got the offensive rebound and was fouled with 3.4 ticks left. Ruben bricked the first FT and made the second, and then nearly got a look at a game-winner when he stripped Ben Gordon in the backcourt … The story of the game, though, was the shootout between Redd and BG. Mike was a beast, dropping 52 points and dropping Adrian Griffin on one of his driving layups in overtime. Gordon scored 48, including 20 in the fourth quarter … With about 20 ticks remaining in overtime, Gordon missed a jumper with Chicago up by two. Patterson got the board and had 2-on-1 with Mo Williams. Ruben passed to Mo, and Mo somehow lost the ball out of bounds, which was basically the dagger for Milwaukee … Shawn Marion (13 pts, 12 rebs) was back yesterday as the Suns held off the short-handed Lakers. With Lamar Odom (shoulder), Bode Radmanovic (shoulder) and Luke Walton (ankle) out of the lineup, L.A. is so banged-up that Shammond Williams was getting crunch-time tick. Kobe and his new arm sleeve scored 31 in the loss, for which Muhammad Ali was a witness … Deron Williams took the latest round of the head-to-head with Chris Paul, going for 20 points and 6 assists in a Utah rout. CP3 had 14 points and 13 dimes … And the guy both of them are looking up to, Jason Kidd, had another triple-double with 11 points, 14 boards and 14 dimes, but New Jersey got beat in Philly. Andre Iguodala, Kyle Korver and Willie Green scored 20-plus, while Joe Smith (11 pts, 10 rebs) pulled a double-double out of the mothballs … Yao Ming is reportedly going to play tonight against the Cavs. During the Rockets/Spurs game on Saturday they talked about how Yao has been running lately, but even the Houston announcers admitted he wasn’t in game shape yet … In college ball, North Carolina handled Duke in Chapel Hill by double-digits. In another incident that will only add to the rivalry, Duke frosh Gerald Henderson split UNC star Tyler Hanbrough’s face open with an elbow in the game’s closing seconds. The scenario: UNC was up by 12 with 20 seconds left and Hansbrough (26 pts, 17 rebs) was on the line. Rebounding his own miss, Psycho T (that’s what the Tar Heels call him) was going back up for a shot when Henderson came across the lane and cracked him. Was it intentional? It kinda looked like it. The Blue Devils side will say Henderson was just trying to block the shot, but the replay showed his arm to be at an angle that isn’t made for shot-blocking. And the fact that UNC’s star player was on the court with 20 ticks left and a double-digit lead? That’s just begging for an Isiah/Mardy Collins/J.R. Smith situation … Florida got back on the winning track, beating Kentucky behind doubles-doubles from Joakim Noah (17 pts, 10 rebs) and Al Horford (14 pts, 10 rebs, 3 blks.) Those two also kept UK big man Randolph Morris off the boards (2 rebs) and on the bench in foul trouble … A couple readers asked us recently why Mateen Cleaves can still play in the D-League. The answer is that “second year or under rule” only applies to NBA teams assigning their players to the D-League. For example, the Hawks can send rookie Shelden Williams to the D-League, or they can send second-year man Marvin Williams, but Josh Childress doesn’t qualify since he’s in his third year. But as far as players not currently in the NBA, it doesn’t matter. That’s why guys like Cleaves and Randy Livingston can be in th D-League … Speaking of the D-League, Arkansas RimRockers guard Clay Tucker dropped a league-record 51 points in one game against the Austin Toros over the weekend. Tucker, a 6-3 guard, played college ball at Wisconsin-Milwaukee … We’re out like half of the Lakers …