National Basketball Association

Celtics' Sullinger pulled from starting lineup

Published Feb. 4, 2015 7:11 p.m. ET

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BOSTON (AP) Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens pulled forward Jared Sullinger from the starting lineup Wednesday night against Denver after he was late for the afternoon shootaround.

''Everybody in this locker room has probably been late one time,'' Sullinger said. ''They understood. Things happen. You can't let it affect you. We've still got a game. Just because I was late doesn't mean I was late to the game. We've still got to play a game and our main objective is to win whether I start, whether I get benched, whether I not dress at all. We just want to win basketball games.''

Sullinger also was yanked from the starting lineup Sunday because he was late to the arena. He was replaced by Tyler Zeller in a loss against Miami.

''Similar to Sunday, he was late,'' Stevens said. ''Obviously, it's a unique traffic day, but I won't make any excuses, he won't make any excuses.''

Boston received its second major snowstorm in less than a week, Sunday into Monday, adding over a foot of snow on top of the nearly two feet that was on the ground.

The city was also clogged with traffic for a parade honoring the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

On Wednesday, Sullinger said he was stuck in traffic for ''20, 30 minutes.''

The coach said he was unsure if there would be any fine and that would be decided by Danny Ainge, the team's president of basketball operations

Stevens said it was just the second time in two years that Sullinger has been late.

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