Delonte's Modern Life

In just his 11th game of the season, Delonte West (above) led the Celtics to a pivotal 89-85 victory over New Orleans Saturday night.

For a re-tooled Celtics team still trying to integrate a plethora of new additions into the rotation (i.e. Jeff Green, Troy Murphy, Nenad Krstic, Carlos Arroyo, Sasha Pavlovic), one name that often gets overlooked when assessing the second unit is old friend Delonte West.

As we all know, the 2010-11 season has been a bit of an odyssey for West. After signing with the Celtics in September, the former St. Joseph's star began the first ten games of the regular season on the sideline, suspended by the league for a weapons charge in which West was caught strapped with multiple firearms and knives while riding his motorcycle.

However, once West returned it was as if he never left. He quickly became the floor general of the second-unit and wowed the Celtics faithful with his smooth, fundamental play and sweet jump shot. But then, just as West appeared to be hitting his stride and giving Doc Rivers solid minutes off the bench, Delonte broke his wrist when he came down hard off a made lay-up. After just eight games played, West was back on the sideline. This time, for nearly three months.

Then, after finally returning in late February from his wrist injury, West promptly injured his ankle and sat out the next nine games.

Talk about bad luck.

But then, almost on cue, West returned to his sparkling form in just his third game back. Displaying little to no rust despite such a prolonged absence, West led the Celtics to an 89-85 come-from-behind win Saturday night in New Orleans, displaying exactly how pivotal his role can be down the stretch and into the playoffs, especially with Rajon Rondo struggling as of late.

"Usually, a guy misses so many games you can see him getting winded and kind of not knowing the plays," Rivers said. "It just seems like he never has a letdown. Every time he comes back from an injury, it's like he's been there already, because he stays prepared."

Sparking the second-unit, West finished with nine points, five assists, one rebound and one block in nearly 20 minutes. Just as it seemed like Arroyo had been slotted as Rondo's primary back-up, West reminded us all exactly why Danny Ainge has always kept his faith in Delonte.

"We've been missing him all year," Big Baby added after the win over the Hornets. "The things that he's capable of doing, the way he plays the game, how unselfish he is, the way he sees the floor. He helps us a lot."

In addition, West's prolonged absence could end up giving the Celtics a huge advantage during the playoffs when most players are banged up and tired after a relentless regular season.

"I have fresh legs still from the summertime," West told Yahoo! Sports recently. "I've just been sitting around waiting for my opportunity to get out there. On paper it looks frustrating, but that's on the outside looking in. I have a great group of guys who keep me part of the team, keep me in the loop."

And, as the old adage goes, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. In Delonte's case, it sums up his whirlwind season perfectly.

"It's back to the road to the championship for me."