They were watching Game 6 of the NBA Finals last summer when Doc Rivers sent House on the floor. Immediately, Evans said, "We're in trouble."

If anybody knows the kind of player House is, it's Evans.

Evans likes to tell a story about a practice drill, some tackling dummies, and House's jaw.

First, the drill. It's called the Henry Iba drill; Evans asks his players to take a charge, get up, scramble for the loose ball, get up, and make a layup.

Evans would have the team managers stand in the paint and smack the players with tackling dummies.

One of those managers, Evans remembers, popped House right in the jaw.

"His jaw was wired shut," Evans said. "He was drinking soup out of a straw."

House said he sat out about a week.

Still, Evans said, "Eddie House is one of the toughest guys I've ever been around."

Evans came to the Sun Devils when the program was in disarray. Then-head coach Don Newman (now an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs) was leaving, even though the players were petitioning the school to keep him. House, one of the team's few veterans, was so close to transferring that he had already talked to then-Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson.

"He was like, `You're more than welcome to come,"' House said.

At odds with the administration and frustrated about having three coaches in three years, House was more than happy to leave.

But Evans talked to him.

"He said he's going to judge me on my performance from that point on," House said. "He's not going to take anybody else's word; he was going to find out right there."

He decided to stay, and he has no regrets about the decision.

"If I go to Oklahoma," he said, "I don't meet my wife. I don't have my kids."

And maybe the Miami Heat don't take him with the 37th pick in the 2000 draft.

"Everything happened for the right reasons," House said.

House is now in the most stable period of his career since coming into the league.

Over the summer, the Celtics signed him to a two-year deal worth a reported $2.7 million this season with a player option for $2.9 million next season, meaning that after bouncing among the Clippers, Bucks, Kings, Bobcats, Suns, and Nets from 2003 to 2007, he'd be with a team for three straight seasons for the first time since he started in Miami.

He and his wife, Charlsie, had packed up their lives so many times, House said, he was starting to get used to it. But with three kids, there's an advantage to stability. Plus, there was a comfort level after winning a championship.

"I didn't have a problem with traveling again or moving again, because I've done it so much," House said. "But at the same time it was great to be able to come back and have the same bunch of guys I did it with last year, the same organization, and have a genuine friendship with people."

This past month was easily House's hottest stretch of the season. He averaged 10.1 points, throwing 25 at Miami, 23 at Orlando, and 28 at Sacramento, and hit 35 3-pointers, draining at least seven in each of those three games (eight against the Kings).

Rivers said the rumors about the Celtics bringing in Stephon Marbury don't affect House, and he means it literally. Taking the ball out of House's hands helps, especially if you have someone to get it to him in the right places.

"Clearly," said Rivers, "we like Eddie when he's off the ball and scoring, so if we could get another guy to allow him to do that, I think you should probably do that if you can."

The buzz is that when the NBA announces its shooters for the 3-point contest tomorrow, House could be among them.

"I'm not at all surprised," Evans said. "He's a great shooter and a huge competitor. No matter where he is, he's always going to compete."

Just thinking about the possibility of seeing House in the 3-point competition, the first thing Evans said was, "Winner."

It's something he and his wife would probably agree on.

SIDEBAR:

76ers thumbnails

- When, where: Tonight, 7, at Wachovia Center, Philadelphia.

- TV, radio: Comcast Sports Net, WEEI (850 AM).

- Scoring: Andre Iguodala 17.7, Andre Miller 16.0, Elton Brand 14.3.

- Rebounds: Brand 9.0, Samuel Dalembert 8.3, Iguodala 6.2.

- Assists: Miller 6.3, Iguodala 5.2, Louis Williams 3.2.

- Head to head: This is the third of four meetings. The Celtics won the first two, both in Boston.

- Miscellany: The Sixers are coming off one of the worst collapses in franchise history against New Jersey Saturday. They blew a 19-point lead in an 85-83 loss, not scoring a field goal in the last 10:37 ... Dalembert could extend his consecutive-games streak to 237 tonight if the ankle injury he suffered last week against Washington doesn't keep him out. The streak is the fifth-longest in the NBA.

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com