01:00 AM EST on Thursday, December 23, 2004

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- When Vin Baker 's family told him they planned to come to last night's game, he warned them it might not be the most joyous of homecomings.

Indeed, the Connecticut native wasn't sure what type of reception he would receive in his first game back to Boston after a less-than amicable departure precipitated by his continued drinking problem.

"I hope, just like last year, that people understand the situation and everything that goes on," said Baker, who was met with a mixture of boos and applause when he entered the game at 2:34 of the first quarter. "I never said anything negative about the fans or anything about the organization, and I hope that everyone can take that into consideration.

"Contrary to what everybody believed, I enjoyed being here and playing in Boston and being at the University of Hartford."

Suspended by the Celtics in February of 2003 for his issues with alcoholism, Baker entered a rehab facility soon after.

The 33-year-old power forward returned that fall and started the 2003-04 campaign looking great and playing even better, recording double-doubles in 21 of his first 35 games.

But Baker's play began to slide early that December. He was soon found to be in violation of his alcohol-treatment program and was suspended by the team. After a third suspension late last January, the Celtics terminated Baker's contract -- which had 2 1/2 years and $35 million remaining -- in February.

The players union filed a grievance on Baker's behalf to block Boston from doing so, but the Celtics and Baker reached a financial settlement before the grievance went to arbitration.

The Knicks signed Baker as a free agent on March 12 and resigned him on Aug. 18.

Baker played a significant role for New York when he first joined the team, contributing 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 18.4 minutes off the bench through the final 17 games.

That's all changed this season, though.

This season, Baker has gotten into just 11 games and is averaging 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.7 minutes.

"It's definitely not easy," said the four-time All-Star, now in his 11th NBA season. "Of course I'd love to be on the floor and be playing. I'm going to continue to encourage my teammates and get ready to play every day. We have a lot of talent on this team -- the front line. Coach has his rotation, and we're just going to stick with that right now."

Rivers defends Davis

After watching the instant replay a few more times, Celtics coach Doc Rivers is still certain that Ricky Davis did not deserve to be charged with a Type 2 flagrant foul that caused him to be ejected from Tuesday night's game against Miami. He reiterated yesterday that he feels Davis was a victim of his reputation.

The foul was called with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter when Davis attempted to block a shot by Dwayne Wade , who was about to dunk off the break after stealing the ball from Gary Payton .

The two players collided in mid-air and Wade crashed to the floor.

Davis admits that he fouled Wade, but insists that he was merely going for the block.

"I think he was kicked out of the game because his name is Ricky Davis and because we don't commit enough of those (hard fouls)," said Rivers. "It stood out and it was uncharacteristic of us, I guess, making a hard foul. I didn't think it was a dirty foul, though. Why can't you just try to block a (darn) shot. It's amazing. . . . If Ricky had blocked the shot clean, he would have hit the floor the exact same way."

LaFrentz ailing

Raef LaFrentz 's surgically-repaired right knee is feeling fine, but his left ankle isn't. The forward sprained it Tuesday against Miami, and though he said he was willing to play last night, Rivers decided to err on the side of caution and kept LaFrentz out of the lineup.

"We talked right before (Rivers' pre-game meeting with the media) and he said he could play," said Rivers. "But he didn't think he could move very well. So we've got three days off and then he can play, so I'd rather try to do that and get him back on the floor."

Odds and ends

Mark Blount remained on the floor holding his head after getting hit in the eye by the Knicks' Nazr Mohammed in the first quarter. He left the game at 8:35, but went back in 32 seconds later and soon dunked for his first basket. He finished with a team-high 22 points. . . . Bruno Sundov -- who had a largely unproductive stint with Boston during the 2002-03 season before being traded to Cleveland later that summer -- has played a total of 12 minutes in three games for New York this season, and didn't score his first points of the season until Tuesday night when he picked up 7 against the Mavs when the game was already out of reach.