Boston Celtics starting point guard Rajon Rondo watched practice from a stationary bike yesterday as he nursed a sore right hamstring.
Rondo said he suffered the injury during the third quarter of Boston's 117-97 win over Phoenix Wednesday night.
"He did something with his hamstring last night so we didn't want to take the chance," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't think it's anything bad but I actually don't really know. He should be fine by (tonight). If he's not we just go with somebody else."
Rondo missed the Dec. 30 game against the Los Angeles Lakers with the same hamstring injury. The second-year point guard said will be available to play and expects to start Friday night, when the Celtics play New Orleans at TD Banknorth Garden in the third game of a four-game homestand.
"I'm playing tomorrow for sure," Rondo said.
Rivers said the team was taking a cautious approach during yesterday's practice.
"We didn't ask him to do anything," Rivers said. "Whenever you have something like that, you don't take a chance. You just tell him to sit and see what he can do (tonight)."
While acknowledging the injury happened in the third quarter, Rondo said it wasn't on the fake crossover on Steve Nash, when he blew by the All-Star point guard for a layup midway through the third.
Pro baseball: McNamee tells students, coaches to learn from his mistake
The former personal trainer for Roger Clemens says life can be defined by a single big mistake.
Brian McNamee met with coaches, students and parents at an Everett, Mass., nutritional supplement store and told them they can learn from his mistake, rather than making their own.
The public appearance was McNamee's first since testifying in front of Congress that he injected Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young winner, with steroids and human growth hormone.
McNamee is a key source for the Mitchell Report that laid bare the prevalence of steroids in baseball.
He didn't talk about steroids or his Congressional testimony during the talk in front of about 25 people.
Instead, he spoke about training regimens and gave advice on workouts.
Steroids: IRS Special AgentNovitzky testifies in cyclist' doping trial
The lead investigator in the federal government's probe into performance-enhancing drugs in sports is testifying about the genesis of an investigation that ensnared Barry Bonds and Marion Jones.
Called at the trial of cyclist Tammy Thomas, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Jeff Novitzky stopped short of naming names.
Prosecutors directed Novitzky to describe his investigative work without identifying any of the players implicated for doping.
Novitzky said he found a trove of evidence in the trash cans of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the sports lab at the heart of the scandal. The evidence included empty needle wrappers and e-mails.
Thomas, like Bonds, is accused of making false statements to a grand jury about steroid use.
Golf: Well-rested Wilson shoots 66 to take Zurich Classic lead
Refreshed after a couple of weeks off, Dean Wilson birdied three of the last four holes in windy conditions for a 6-under 66 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Zurich Classic.
Wilson played eight straight tournaments before taking the break.
"I've struggled a little bit," Wilson said. "I took a couple weeks off and just went home and tried to clear my brain and just play golf rather than maybe sit on the range and fiddle with my swing. I think that helped."
Briny Baird, Peter Lonard and Chez Reavie opened with 67s.
Olympics: British Prime Minister says Britain won't boycott opening ceremony
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that Britain would not boycott the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Brown was speaking at a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who repeated his position that he might shun the opening.
Brown says Britain "will be attending the Olympic Games ceremonies."
Sarkozy said none of the 27 members of the European Union had called for a boycott of the Games.
He said he would use the next few months "to try to pacify the situation," and added that "I reserve the right to decide whether I will attend the opening ceremony."
Cycling: British men break world record in team pursuit at world track championships
Britain broke world records in the men's and women's team pursuit at the world track cycling championships.
Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Edward Clancy powered ahead of Denmark and finished in 3 minutes, 56.322 seconds in the final. The Danes were timed in 3:59.381.
Swimming: Trickett sets world record in 100 meters freestyle
Libby Trickett set a world record in the 100-meter freestyle at the Australian swim championships, finishing in 52.88 seconds.
Trickett, formerly Libby Lenton and competing for the first time under her married name, beat the 53.30 mark set by Germany's Britta Steffen in Budapest, Hungary, on Aug. 2, 2006. Australian Eamon Sullivan set the 50-meter freestyle world record again, lowering the mark to 21.41.
