Some good news on the injury front!

ESPN Boston finally has some good news to report:

- The MRI on Paul's foot came back clean, and the injuries to his foot and his hand have been deemed minor. He will play Wednesday against New Jersey. As a precautionary measure, he did not practice today, and will also sit out practice tomorrow.

The Celtics don't fool me! Paul Pierce is the most stubborn man alive. I wish he wasn't going to play Wednesday, and call me a party pooper, but I also wish he'd sit out the All Star festivities. The Captain dealt with nagging injuries last year, and they especially plagued him in the second half of the season. I'd like to avoid that at all costs. In any case, I'm glad these current injuries are nothing serious, and I'm sure that even though he'll be playing in the game and participating in the 3 point contest, the break will serve him well.

-Delonte West participated in practice today, and barring any soreness popping up over night, he will play tomorrow against New Jersey. Wooohooo!!! It will be GREAT to see Delonte back out there, and even though he doesn't have the size to play back up to Paul, the Celtics can work with it in the mean time, while the Marquis situation gets figured out.

-Semih will be ready to return after All Star break, and will resume action with the team on their West Coast road trip. Any big body in a Celtics uniform who's ready to play is a welcome sight right now.

I'm not sure whether or not this counts as good news, but...

-Shaq is also expected to play during the West Coast road trip. Greg Payne of ESPN Boston reports that Doc was quoted to have said, "When he first injured it we all thought it was a one- or two-game thing, and now it's been longer, and now it's getting to the point where we're not sure if he'll play on the west coast trip or not. We're hoping he will. Right now we think he will, maybe not every game, maybe we play him every other game, but if we had to play today, I don't know if Shaq could play today." Well hey. It will be great to have Semih back, and if Shaq can come back, even in a limited capacity, that would be great as well. I'd rather be REALLY safe than sorry with Shaq-tus.