"The Celtics spent the latter part of yesterday's practice in a remedial session for Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore. With Rajon Rondo out and Marbury starting at the point, it was mainly for him.

So Leon Powe, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens joined in to run the plays.

"For me it's huge," said Marbury, who has struggled while learning on the fly. "Having a day like that is huge. It's not even close. Being able to go over all of the sets and go over all of the options makes a world of difference to me.

"I'm just trying to get acclimated quickly. It's been a challenge and it's been tough, but everyone's been so helpful."

Five games into his Celtics career, he looks every bit the new guy who hadn't played in more than a year. But Marbury expects things to change after he's had 10 games.

"Oh, man, I'll be totally different," he said. "My mind is sped up right now to learn everything that's going on. Once I get the system and I start to understand the plays and the defensive sets and what we want out of the offense and the defense - once my game comes around - I think I'll be way more at ease and my instincts will definitely take over."