A little pain for the Celtics

But all was well - or least better than expected - at the team’s practice session at Freedom High School yesterday.

Garnett was in a spirited mood following a one-game absence and will play against the Magic today. Pierce is not on this four-game road trip, but could return sooner than the initial projection of two weeks. And forward Glen Davis (broken right thumb) trained at full speed and could be activated today.

Asked about Garnett, coach Doc Rivers said, “He looked great, he’ll be fine, so that’s the best news. Honestly, I told Kevin, if I didn’t think he was moving well, I was going to sit him tomorrow, too. We’re looking for the long term.

Rivers said Pierce’s timetable for a return - he had a surgical procedure Wednesday - was a “guesstimate by a doctor who never played basketball. I think it may be shorter than two weeks.’’

But Rivers added that this was “not anything he could have played on.’’

Garnett and Pierce rarely miss practices. But since Garnett had bone spur problems in his knee last season, Rivers has been able to convince him to rest at times. But Rivers was “talked into’’ allowing Pierce to play in a game he should have missed at Indiana earlier this season.

“Coming into this league, being fortunate to be in this league, I learned from gutty veterans like Sam [Cassell] and Terry Porter,’’ said Garnett. “Those guys pushed through a lot of things. So I had great examples around me. I never want to sit during practice. I don’t believe in days off unless the coach gives them to you.

“So my thing is to work, and that’s what I do when I come to the gym, I work. And Doc Rivers’s mentality is sometimes to take days off, and I don’t believe in that. Sometimes he’s right and you’ve got to listen to your body. And as I get older, it’s probably the smart thing to do.’’

Rivers revealed the details of the events leading up to Pierce’s operation at New England Baptist Hospital. About 3 a.m. Wednesday, five hours after scoring 21 points in a 103-94 win over Indiana at TD Garden, Pierce called trainer Eddie Lacerte because of pain and swelling in his knee.