01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 31, 2005

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Antoine Walker was an experiment that didn't work out the way he had hoped, says Mark Cuban.

In town with his team last night, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks said that he, now-departed head coach Don Nelson and president of basketball operations Donn Nelson (the former Nelson's son) had been looking for a point forward to fit into the Mavs' system and thought Walker, with his strong ballhandling skills, just might fit the bill, acquiring him in the five-player deal with the Celtics right before the start of last season.

"Nellie put the ball in his hands a lot," said Cuban. "But that also meant it wasn't in the hands of Steve (Nash) and Dirk (Nowitzki) at that point, so in hindsight it wasn't as good a move as it could have been."

Cuban says he traded Walker to Atlanta last summer because he requested a move.

"He realized that we had an overload in the four position and he was playing behind Dirk, and having him play the five was difficult for him," Cuban said. "He did a lot of wonderful things for us, but he didn't think it was a fit and Nellie and Donnie didn't think it was as strong of a fit, so he said, 'If you can move me, do it,' and I said, 'OK, I will,' and Donnie put something together and we did."

Asked to evaluate Walker's play since returning to Boston, Cuban said: "Has he done the wiggle?" referring to Walker's now-trademark move, which he did just once when he played for the Mavs, after he hit a game-winning shot against Seattle.

When he heard the answer was no, Cuban said: "That just tells you the Walker you have is focused and ready to contribute."

Message delivered

Celtics rookie Al Jefferson received his first DNP by coach's decision (he has missed 10 games with a sprained ankle) last Saturday at Detroit because coach Doc Rivers said Kendrick Perkins "had been working harder and deserved the minutes.

"Bottom line is I believe the guy who earns the job wins," said Rivers, who hasn't been pleased with Jefferson's defense of late. "The young guys, their lessons never stop. I don't mind if they don't play well, because I don't think they're going to play well every night. But there are certain things you have to do to play. You have to move the ball on offense. You have to defend. You have to at least give the effort, so that's important."

In the heat of battle

Things got heated in the second quarter, resulting in technical fouls being called against Nowitzki, Walker and Ricky Davis .

Perkins unknowingly set off the chain of events when he backed into Nowitzki on his way down the floor after dunking over Shawn Bradley .

When Nowitzki went after Perkins, Walker and Davis, who were not in the game at the time, came to their teammate's aid.

Rivers immediately lit into Walker for going out on the floor.

"I just told him to get out of there," said Rivers. "That was between Perk and Nowitzki, and I liked our chances in that one. And that was the point I was making. We don't need to come rescue Perk. Perk would love to fight, trust me."

In general, Rivers says he wishes his players wouldn't let such skirmishes take them out of their game.

"(Other teams) see that it unravels us," he said. "To me that was a close game and then that play, bam it was gone. Game's over. We've got to just play. All this (stuff), I just don't like it. Let's just beat the team and point at the scoreboard."

Vote of confidence

There is no "interim" label in front of Avery Johnson 's name, Cuban says of the man he tabbed to replace Nelson at the Mavs' helm upon the former head coach's resignation on March 19.

"He is our head coach ," Cuban said of Johnson, who just retired as a player last October, immediately becoming a Dallas assistant. "I love the way he approaches the game. I love the way he approaches the locker room. I've seen A.J. in action for multiple years now. He's proved himself."

Trovato honored

Peter Trovato , a resident of North Attleboro, was honored with the Celtics' "Heroes Among Us" Award. A UMass-Amherst student and hockey player, Trovato, has already raised $50,000 for his new Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, a college scholarship fund for the children of Massachusetts soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.