Pierce saves his best for last
He limped. Or maybe he hobbled. Whatever you want to call it, Paul Pierce took his time walking into the postgame news conference tonight following a 106-104 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“I’m not in shape for this,” Pierce said with a smile.
Energy appeared to be an issue for Pierce in the first half, as the captain turned in a pedestrian performance, making 3 of 9 shots for 7 points. And with his team down, 77-66, with 9:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, it was easy to point a finger at Pierce for being conspicously absent (he later said he was kicked in the leg during tonight’s game, which would explain the limp).
“Maybe I could do a better job at trying to get to the line, getting my rhythm earlier, and that will get me going,” said Pierce. “But, you know, better late than never.”
Better late, indeed. Pierce played a game-high 50 minutes against the Bulls, scoring 19 of his 26 points in the second half and overtime. His jumper over John Salmons with 3.4 seconds left in overtime put the Celtics up 2 and proved the difference in the game. Earlier, Pierce sank a 15-footer with 10.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
“He was just doing what he was supposed to be doing, being the captain, being Paul Pierce, The Truth,” said Celtics forward Glen Davis. “You’ve seen it a dozen times. I think since I’ve been here I’ve seen it a million times… he’s amazing. Nothing surprised me.”
Pierce hit three shots in the final 77 seconds of OT to help seal the win.
“That’s what great players do,” said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. “They make big plays. We’ve come with double teams, we’ve come with single teams, we’ve come off bigs, we’ve come off littles, and he’s seen it all. He’s an All-Star player for a reason.”
“They’re basketball players,” said Rivers. “That’s what we do. You know? We get days off in between. Hell, we play all day. And that’s our attitude. If we had to play guys 60 minutes, we’ll do it. Hell, what else is there to do right now?”
Said Pierce, “You’ve got to understand, this is not — when we grew up playing basketball, you may play like three or four games in one day. So to play these minutes — what Doc is doing with us in the off days, he’s saving our legs. I do a good job of getting my treatments, getting my rest and so, hey, at some point when you’re in close games and it’s the playoffs, it’s mental, and you don’t really think about it.”
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