Celtics forward Jared Sullinger is keeping a diary for ESPNBoston.com all season. Here he discusses why he was late twice in the past week, how the team wants to make the playoffs and, of course, shoveling snow. (As told to Louise K. Cornetta)

I was late Sunday and Wednesday because I got caught in traffic -- that's all. Sunday was just one of those days where I ran into traffic. It is what it is. Wednesday I got in some more traffic. I should have known. I thought I left on time by leaving my house at 3:15 to get here at 4:45, but it didn't work out that way. I should have known with the Patriots' parade. It was just bad timing on my part.

I explained to Coach Stevens why I was late and he understood. He still has to set an example by not starting me. I had started every game before Sunday and I wasn't disappointed at all to see that end because I respect the decision. I grew up in a household with a mom and dad who don't like being late, so I understood the punishment. I had no problem with it.

Sullinger came up big off the bench on Wednesday with 14 points. Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images

Being now one of the more veteran leaders on this team, it made this harder. Being a veteran is not about years in this league. It's about helping people out when they make a mistake. That's the biggest thing I do. In return, my teammates understood. They've all been through it. Every last person in that locker room has been through it. They respect me and understood what happened. They just told me it happens and it probably will happen again but just try to minimize your mistakes as much as possible.

I guarantee anyone that asks me why I showed up late is the same person that has been late once or twice in their life. Nobody's perfect. We understand that but, at the same time, we're here to abide by rules. If you break the rules, there is a price to pay. We understand and no one is mad at one another. It happens all the time. We just need to move on and play the game.

In the future, my plan will be to leave earlier, of course. The route that made me late on Sunday, I even tried a different route on Wednesday. I didn't do any better. I don't know what I'm going to do now except leave earlier.

We're back after a lengthy West Coast road trip. We were very happy with that trip. Some of the guys say we play better on the road than we do at home. It was a great experience on the road because we got closer as a team. We learned how to play as a team. We made a lot of strides to better ourselves.

One of our goals is to make the playoffs. There's never been a doubt in my mind we could achieve this. From Day 1 of the season, we're going to try and make the playoffs. We try to be the best team possible.

As for my own play, while I've been leading the team in rebounds, I haven't been working on a lot. I've just been playing my game. If they can just give me the ball a little bit more on the block, as I'm still finding the happy medium between shooting that outside shot and getting to the block. Coach Stevens wants me to be more of a focal point on offense. What I'm doing to try and be that is to be more efficient. I think that's the biggest thing. You have to be as efficient as possible to do what you want to do. Sometimes, you have to take your time. Sometimes, you play too fast. You just have to take your time to play your game.

This has been a busy week with five games both home and on the road, but that's just part of life in the NBA. None of us are worried about playing a lot of games in this stretch. We're just trying to win as many games as possible. The best part of playing a lot in this stretch is that it's a chance to better yourself, better your team and better your playoff chances. It's also really good for mental conditioning. Especially as we head into this All-Star break coming up, where some people may start to be looking ahead to that, but not this team. We're the type of team who wants to finish out the first half strong all the way to the end. The only bad part of playing so many games in a short amount of time is all the traveling we have to do but that's about it.

We just played in New York. Playing at Madison Square Garden is a big deal. Just the way the arena is set up makes it feel big. You feel like you're in a theater, like you're on Broadway. It was a lot of fun. I remember the first game I played there. I was in high school playing in the Jordan Brand Classic. The memory I have is the circus was after us and I remember having to sit in a big ol' line waiting for the elevator.

As I've mentioned before, I'm from the state of Ohio. My first game in Cleveland, I remember feeling very welcomed by the fans. They knew I was a Buckeye and always will be. They welcomed me with open arms. My first game here in Boston was pretty amazing. I like the way the fans are set up here. The fans here are pretty dope.

What else has been going on? Well, I'm used to shoveling snow. Being from Columbus, Ohio, you get pretty used to it. I used to shovel people's walkways for money. Shoveling doesn't bother me. Some of my teammates, though, are amazed by it, especially the guys who are from down south and not used to it. Some like it, some definitely don't.

I wanted to congratulate the Patriots on winning the Super Bowl. I watched the game at my house. I enjoyed it. It was a great game and a lovely finish!