But House apparently didn't need words to provoke Alston, who now awaits word from the league regarding a potential penalty for his swipe.

``Eddie made the shot, I'm standing out of bounds letting him run by, and he shoots an elbow at me,'' Alston said. ``It was just a natural reaction. I tried to grab him before he ran down the court. I have no hard feelings toward Eddie. I have a lot of respect for him, but when you're having a good night, kicking our behinds, and he shot an elbow at me, it was just a natural reaction.

``Yeah, I'm concerned,'' he said of the possibility of a fine or even one-game suspension. ``I can't do much about it now. But the NBA is cool. They'll look at the play in its entirety and they'll see that he threw the elbow at my stomach.''

House, predictably, was unapologetic.

``Everybody saw what happened,'' he said. ``I don't play that type of Basketball. I just think he was doing anything he could to try and stop me, and tonight it was just going down.

``I wasn't talking to them. If I hit shots, I might yell at my teammates, but I wasn't talking to them at all. I'm an emotional player and it was emotional tonight.''

Rondo, KG All-`D'

First for the old hat.

Kevin Garnett was named to his seventh straight NBA All-Defensive first team yesterday.

And now for the new.

Rajon Rondo, with the first of what he hopes will be many such honors, was named to the All-Defensive second team.

Voted onto the team by a panel of coaches, Rondo took the news in two ways.

``It matters to me, but it doesn't,'' he said before last night's game. ``It means that I have to go out for the rest of the season and get stops. I take pride in my defense.''

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Rondo will eventually be a much better defender. ``He's improved, especially with focus,'' Rivers said. ``Defense comes down to will and great mental focus. I think that's where he's improved the most. He's great on the ball when he doesn't gamble. That's always a point of contention with our staff. ``But he's so gifted, it's like Paul (Pierce); you give room to be free offensively, (and) we do give Rondo more room as long as it doesn't hurt the team. When he wants to be, on the ball he's unbelievable.''

Good enough to make all the difference, anyway.

``Rondo, especially this year, has really set the table for us,'' Rivers said. ``He's one of the few guards - Chris Paul would be the other one - who have the ability to change the game at the point position. That's just not done very often.''

Garnett naturally didn't need an introduction.

``Obviously Kevin, we're not going to talk about because he's not here, but he's the best team defender in the league,'' Rivers said. ``I think there may be some better individual defenders, but there isn't a better team defender than Kevin Garnett.''

The only Celtics hopeful left off the team was Kendrick Perkins, who, like Rondo, can aspire to future opportunities.

Said Rivers: ``I think as good as we've been defensively, and as good as Perk has been, I'm amazed at how little notice he gets for his individual defense. There's only so many awards you can give out, I guess, and they get tired of giving them out to the same team and same guys sometimes.''

Read the Celtics Insider at bostonherald.com.