River Dance: Father meets son in Celtics-Hornets tilt

It's sure to be an emotional night Wednesday when a father meets his son.

Doc Rivers will be on the sideline to coach his Boston Celtics, winners of six consecutive games, as they take on Rivers' son Austin and his New Orleans Hornets.

The father beamed proudly when his son was chosen 10th overall in last summer's NBA Draft. The reality now is that Doc Rivers will have to try and do everything he can to best Austin.

Is it something Doc Rivers is looking forward to?

"I'm actually not," Doc said Tuesday. "I don't even know what I'm looking forward to. It's not like he���s playing a ton anyway, but you never know. As far as him and being on the floor, that's just a different feeling. I still don't know how to feel about it."

Dad is right, Austin hasn't played a ton of minutes lately, barely cracking the five-minute mark Tuesday night in Philadelphia. To further complicate things, Hornets' coach Monty Williams is a close friend of Doc.

"This is hard, though, in some ways," Doc said. "You can't overthink it, either. At the end of the day, just coach him, and I'm just going to parent him.

"He's going to be my son during the game, after the game, before the game," Doc said. "None of that's going to change."

Austin Rivers may not be playing well, but his father's squad certainly is.

The Celtics haven't lost since a home defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 2. This is the fourth of a five-game homestand that will end Friday night when the Chicago Bulls come to town.

On Monday, Boston beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 100-89. Never considered one of the best offensive teams, the C's have gone past the 100-point mark in three of the six wins during this run, but the defense, long a staple of this Boston regime, has been brilliant. During the win streak, the Celtics have held opponents to an average of 85.1 ppg.

That may not bode well for a Hornets' squad ranked 28th in the NBA in scoring.

But New Orleans is playing well of late, with wins in five of their last six. The Hornets are at the end of a three-game trip through the northeast part of the country. They fell to the New York Knicks on Sunday, but rebounded with a 111-99 victory Tuesday night over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Hornets were led by Greivis Vasquez, who had 23 points and nine assists. Eric Gordon chipped in 19.

New Orleans took an 18-point lead into the final frame against Philly. Nick Young led a comeback for the Sixers, who closed the gap to single digits before the Hornets pulled away late.

"I thought we played with a lot of energy," Vasquez said. "We started hitting shots, starting getting into our offense and started getting physical."

The Hornets have won three of the last four meetings in this series with Boston, but are 2-5 in their last seven as the visitor.