Davis

CLEVELAND – The clamor of Celtics fans in some quarters for an Eddie House sighting was answered last night.

Coach Doc Rivers said before the game that defensive issues with Sam Cassell’s play could mean House seeing some meaningful playing time for the first time in this series. Sure enough, House came on in relief of Rajon Rondo late in the first quarter and gave his team a big spark. He finished with eight points.

House nailed a jumper to end the first quarter and then swished a 3-pointer and fed Glen Davis with a nice assist in the second. His second 3-pointer just inside four minutes to play helped the Celtics make things interesting down the stretch of a painful 74-69 loss.

The Celtics went into the game knowing House would get a chance. Starting point guard Rondo enjoyed a superb effort in Game Five, when he went off for 20 points and 13 assists in 42 busy minutes, but Rivers couldn’t count on big minutes like that two games running. Rivers squeezed minutes away from Cassell, who’s 8-for-33 shooting in the series and also struggled on defense. Rivers was more concerned about the veteran’s defense, as he’s had major problems staying with shooters such as Delonte West and Daniel Gibson when they ran him off ball screens.

Rivers said if Rondo hadn’t played so well in Game Five, he was tempted to go with House instead of Cassell in the second half. Cassell did not play at all last night.

“As long as things work out defensively,” said Rivers when asked whether he’d play Cassell. “We feel offensively things will work out (for Cassell). He’s a good offensive player and he’s been a good offensive player long enough that things will work out. Where they’ve affected us is more on the other end, running guys off of screens. That’s something Sam doesn’t do very well.”

Rondo is a major upgrade over either of those reserves, as long as he’s on his game.

“If he’s playing well he’s the one guy you don’t worry about minutes,” Rivers said about Rondo. “Paul (Pierce), in this series, you worry a bit about because he’s guarding LeBron (James) and trying to score on LeBron. And Kevin (Garnett) every night. I think we played him 40 minutes the other night and that s little much for him, to be honest. He’s the one guy every game that we’re concerned about minutes.”

Davis provides energy

The Celtics’ other bench issue revolved around big men Leon Powe and Davis. Powe played well early in the series but defensive issues caused Rivers to go with Davis in Game Five. He provided loads of energy and earned another look last night, but that energetic play led to four first-half fouls. Davis struggled most of the game, finishing with just four points and four rebounds.

Davis came in late in the first quarter and hit the boards hard, but his fouling hurt the Celts’ big-men rotation. “It’s like a relief pitcher with those two. You ride the hot hand,” said Rivers. “When one gets going, you hope they get going for two, three, four games. It’s Baby’s turn now.”

James on human rights

LeBron James has caught plenty of abuse in recent years for his huge contract with Nike and his reluctance to speak out on human-rights issues in countries where Nike’s sneakers and apparel are made. “You talking about people’s human rights, anytime, it doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re talking about, whether it’s the United States or in China or Europe,” he said. “People’s human rights being taken away from them for reasons that we may not know, I don’t know for sure, but if I can shine some light on the situation and help the situation, I think it’s a good thing.”

Road woes

An awful lot has been made of the Celtics’ troubles in away games in this post-season, for good reason. But history tells us the home court is always a major advantage. In 363 best-of-seven series in NBA history entering these playoffs, the home team has won 75 percent of the time. Ninety-seven of the 363 series have gone seven games. Only 13 teams have won a best-of-seven series after being down 2-0. Cleveland did the trick last season, rallying against Detroit.

kmcnamar@projo.com