The first thing Doc Rivers wanted to say after last night’s game is that he didn’t give it away on purpose. He didn’t coach to lose so the Celtics [team stats] could cement their position in the draft lottery and keep hope alive for the worst record in the league and the best chance at the first pick. “I was not tanking the game,” Rivers said. “I was not throwing the game or anything like that, because I’ve heard all those questions.” But Rivers insisted there was nothing sinister about leaving Paul Pierce [stats] (game-high 23 points) on the bench for the fourth quarter and letting the quintet of Sebastian Telfair [stats], Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Allan Ray and Leon Powe stay on the parquet as the lead - still at 10 with nine minutes left in the game - disappeared. “Honestly, I got to the point early in the fourth quarter (where) I turned to my coaches and said, ‘We’re going to win or lose with this group,’ ” Rivers said. “I got to the point (where) I thought, ‘What do we get if we win this game, if we put Paul and Al (Jefferson) back in? What do we get out of this game?’ . . . At some point, those other guys have to be able to play a little bit. --

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