Paul Pierce News

"There still are at least two games left in this series, but Paul Pierce isn’t looking at it that way. The Celtics do not have two chances to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to avoid elimination. The match is even at two games apiece, but the Celts’ 0-5 mark away from home in this postseason has made tonight’s test almost larger than one game. Asked if the team has put a lot of pressure on itself, Pierce said, “Well, yeah, I mean, shoot. The thing is it’s a three-game series with two of them here at home, so definitely this puts us in a position where we definitely have to win (tonight), since we know we haven’t been playing well on the road, and then try to get our first road victory in Game 6.”"

"During an interview with NBA officials, Paul Pierce denied making a gang sign during a first-round game in Atlanta, but the league still felt he warranted a fine for a "menacing" hand gesture. NBA commissioner David Stern spoke with the media before Game 4 between the Celtics and Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena last night and addressed numerous topics, including Pierce's $25,000 fine. Stern said part of the issue was Pierce being near the Hawks bench when he made the gesture."

" Q: What's the most important thing you learned from your mother, Lorraine Hosey? A: Probably to calm down. My mom always said I was a hyper baby. She's always telling me before the games to relax, calm down, be even, play your game. And stop taking so many charges or you'll get hurt. That's what I learned from my mother. "

"Rarely, if ever, has a bad night felt so satisfying for Paul Pierce. The reason might have even been glorious. The Celtics captain scored only four points on 2-for-14 shooting in the Celtics’ 76-72 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, but along with James Posey, he also was the first line of defense in an effort that limited LeBron James to 2-for-18 shooting."

"In a heated moment of a tight playoff series, Paul Pierce made a hand gesture that closely mimicked a known gang sign and walked threateningly toward his opponent’s bench. The N.B.A. called it a “menacing gesture” and fined Pierce, the Boston Celtics star, $25,000. Pierce has denied that the gesture was gang-related. League officials will not say whether they believe it was. But in the view of one expert on gang violence, the N.B.A. made a mistake by publicly issuing the fine."

"The "menacing gesture" Paul Pierce flashed during the Celtics' Game 3 playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks could indicate anything from gang affiliation to shoe company preference, according to law enforcement officials and experts in gang culture."

"A street preacher on the front lines of the Hub’s bloody street wars is demanding Boston Celtic star Paul Pierce pony up 50 grand for at-risk teens as penance for flashing a reputed gang sign during a televised playoff game."

"There was great debate yesterday about the hand gesture Paul Pierce made late in the Game 3 loss to the Hawks on Saturday after being taunted by Al Horford. The Celtics said that when Pierce put his thumb and forefinger into a circle and held the remaining three fingers up, it meant blood, sweat and tears - a symbol used within the team this year. To the league, it meant $25,000."

"Paul Pierce had the Hawks and a hand gesture to worry about last night. Pierce was fined $25,000 by the NBA yesterday for making what the league deemed a "menacing gesture" in Saturday night's Game 3 loss to the Hawks."

"NBA commissioner David Stern's itinerary called for him to make an appearance at an Atlanta Hawks playoff game last night. (We trust this reservation was not made last fall.) That gave him the occasion to praise the Hawks and their fans for Job-like patience over the last nine playoff-free years - and to deliver a warning to NBA players, two of whom, including Paul Pierce, were whacked with $25,000 fines yesterday for making what the league said were "menacing gestures.""

"After injuring his back in Game 2 Wednesday, Paul Pierce will be back tonight. Pierce experienced stiffness on the right side of his lower back after being fouled hard on a lay-in attempt in the first quarter of the Celtics' 96-77 victory over the Hawks at TD Banknorth Garden."

"For a split second last night, it was as though the Celtics’ grand march to a 17th NBA championship had come to a painful, screeching halt. Paul Pierce had been hit, hit hard, and he was sprawled on the parquet at the Garden. But after being fouled by Joe Johnson in the first quarter of the 96-77 Game 2 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, and then having Josh Smith fall on top of him in the process, Pierce returned and wound up scoring 14 points and logging 28 minutes as the Celts grabbed a 2-0 series lead."

"Game 2 had barely passed the two-minute mark last night when Paul Pierce took a hard foul that definitely made the Celtics nervous. Pierce had been fouled by Atlanta's Joe Johnson and also hit hard by Josh Smith, forcing him to the locker room clutching his lower back, with team doctor Brian McKeon alongside him. Pierce returned to start the second quarter with what the Celtics described as a lower-back strain, then finished the night with 14 points in 28 minutes."

"Paul Pierce has had better seasons, perhaps, but never really has had a better year. And so 12 months after the Celtics finished the 2006-07 season with the second-worst record in the NBA, 12 months after Pierce and most everyone else wondered just where the Celtics were headed, now we know: to the playoffs. To the top of the NBA hierarchy entering this highly anticipated postseason. To a place where Pierce, like everyone else in a Celtics uniform, is part of something far, far bigger than himself. Finally."

"Paul Pierce was on familiar ground. He took the microphone and walked to center court before last night’s game for yet another dance with the leprechaun logo. But this time, his regular season finale chat was decidedly different. Delightfully different even. “All I can remember the last two or three years is coming here and promising y’all better days,” he said. Perhaps Pierce, who went on to say that the better days are finally here, simply doesn’t want to remember the bad buckets of bygone days."

"As someone who often changes his mind in these matters, Celtics coach Doc Rivers reversed field and decided to play Paul Pierce, newly returned from the birth of a daughter, in last night’s 107-104 overtime win over the Bucks."

"Paul Pierce’s availability for tonight’s game in Charlotte is questionable, as the Celtics captain is on the verge of becoming a new father. Pierce was with his fiancee, Julie Landrum, as she underwent an induced delivery yesterday. He did not accompany the rest of the team on its flight to Charlotte last night."

"Perhaps it’s about time Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck began construction of a team day-care center. Paul Pierce, whose fiancee Julie Landrum is about to be induced into labor, may miss tomorrow night’s game in Charlotte as the result of becoming a father for the first time. Pierce, the only Celtic to play every game this season, would understandably miss his first game of the year."

"The online ballot boxes were bursting at the seams this week as the Herald’s Greatest Celtic of All Time poll was knocked down to a Great Eight that could serve as an NBA All-Star team for the ages. Paul Pierce, a No. 3 seed, pulled off the only upset of the Sweet 16, garnering nearly three-quarters of the votes in his Grousbeck Bracket showdown with second-seeded Bill Sharman."

"Director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the club will evaluate Green, but others say privately his two years as a Celtic will likely be his last. Even Paul Pierce, one of Green’s main supporters, showed no eagerness at all when asked if he’d like his former teammate back."

"While Pierce waited for Garnett, he got a long look at the stats that made up the Celtics’ 110-92 loss to the Utah Jazz, sporadically shaking his head and laughing in disbelief upon deciphering what was perhaps his and his team’s worst night of the season."

"Celtics forward Kevin Garnett was viewed by many as the leading candidate to be NBA MVP prior to the abdominal injury that caused him to miss nine games. But if the 2004 NBA MVP had a vote, it would go to Garnett's teammate, Paul Pierce."

"Among the many laudable facts about LeBron James is that he’s the NBA’s leading scorer in the fourth quarter. That’s a title Paul Pierce was familiar with a couple of years ago."

"After they had combined to hit just 5-of-25 shots in Friday’s loss in Phoenix, it was a fair lock that Paul Pierce and Ray Allen would be better yesterday against the Portland Trail Blazers. But 19-for-22? And 8-for-9 on 3-pointers?"

"The video game NBA Live 08 currently has a television commercial showing a digital version of Celtics forward Paul Pierce dunking on the Los Angeles Lakers. Since both teams have played twice this season, the only way the longtime rivals can play outside of a video game this season is in the NBA Finals."

"Celtics forward Paul Pierce saw his ejection from Monday's game in New York as unwarranted and a lesser deal than what was made of it."

"Kevin Garnett most certainly will have his All-Star ticket punched when the starters are announced tomorrow. And Paul Pierce expects that he and Ray Allen will learn they are accompanying him when the reserves are announced a week later."

"You get the feeling Pierce checks the calendar every morning to make sure he hasn't been transported in time to some parallel universe? Last year, he got to work and saw Al Jefferson and Sebastian Telfair and knew he'd have to score 30 points for his team to have any chance of winning."

"The Nets weren't accepting back-slaps after last night's 86-77 loss to the Celtics, but they did get Paul Pierce's attention. The Boston forward, who outplayed Richard Jefferson, came away with a favorable impression of the Nets and predicts they'll be a top-four seed in the East. "

"There’s been no room to question the hoop harmony of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but it’s clear, too, that they’re still working on their stage act. And it’s evident that Pierce is getting a better understanding of when to break off a solo riff."

"The Celtics advanced to 3-0 on their four-game West Coast trip with a 104-98 victory over the Jazz at a sold-out EnergySolutions Arena last night. Boston improved to an NBA-best 25-3 record, winning its seventh straight road game and fifth straight overall."

"Last night was a perfect date for an exorcism, and Paul Pierce managed to kill two demons with one game. On the anniversary of the day he showed up at practice with crutches, his left foot - and the Celtics season - in a boot, the captain dropped 22 points on Chicago in three quarters of a 107-82 win."

"If you're assuming Ray Allen, Garnett and Pierce simply won't be able to share one ball, though? Well, then you're one dark-minded cynic who pretty much expects the worst from all mankind."

"Paul Pierce is the latest Celtic to cause concern because of an injury. Pierce, who averages a team-best 21.5 points per game, was a game-time decision last night because of a back strain, and scored the winning hoop in Boston's 92-91 decision over the Heat."

"Nine days after the Patriots beat the Colts to go 9-0, the Celtics pushed aside the Pacers, 101-86, to improve to 6-0. If either team wins a title, maybe the duck boats should make a detour through ’Nap Town."

"Now, when Paul Pierce speaks of a team without an identity, he speaks of someone else. The Celtics are a new team this season, and their captain seems like an entirely new man."

"Paul Pierce had a point to make. And, as a guy who’s led the Celtics in points on the court the past seven years, he didn’t hesitate to get one across off it. When the subject turned to his displeasure last season, he made his move."

"When Paul Pierce mentions the white Nissan he drove during his days at Inglewood High School, Kevin Garnett laughs. They joke about Cinnabons at the mall and summer Sundays spent driving down Crenshaw Boulevard in that white Nissan."

"The Celtics' new star trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce is on the cover of Sports Illustrated's and ESPN the Magazine's NBA previews, not the reigning champion Spurs."

"Paul Pierce had had enough. After nine seasons with the Boston Celtics, Pierce, the team's star forward, had next to nothing to show for his efforts with the NBA's signature franchise - the signature now the warped and fading scrawl of a once-relevant team."

"An NBA spokesman confirmed last night that the league is reviewing Paul Pierce’s grab of Jamal Crawford during the Celtics’ exhibition loss in New York Monday night."

"The gym couldn't have been quieter when Paul Pierce hit the floor, grabbing his left leg yesterday near the end of what was essentially the team's first practice at the HealthPoint facility."

"Three seasons ago - Doc Rivers’ first as coach of the Celtics - was marked by a lot of in-game decisions that didn’t rest well with his enigmatic star, Paul Pierce."

"Celtics forward Paul Pierce is happy to make room for his two new star teammates on his once-lonely island."

"The world dialed in to say hello to Paul Pierce yesterday, and the Celtics captain was asked on his international conference call to put his team in a global context. An enormous difference was evident."

"Fresh off a flight from his home in Los Angeles, Paul Pierce caught a limo from Logan Airport to Basketball City for the start of his youth basketball camp yesterday. And that’s where all familiarity with the city he has known for the last nine years ended."

"Upon arriving for the first session of his weeklong camp at the Basketball City facility across from TD Banknorth Garden yesterday, Paul Pierce went right to work, instructing youngsters on the importance of getting down on defense."

"The last two years have been an isolating experience for Paul Pierce. Though the Celtics captain was diligent in his attempt to be a good leader and role model for the teeming group of young players under his wing, he had little in the way of support at the top."

"Paul Pierce has generally been careful with his words regarding a trade demand. He always maintained the right of deniability when it came to leaving town. But yesterday after calling the Celtics’ present situation 'a dream come true,' he admitted he was gazing at the door before the club added Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett."

"'I reached out to Paul's four phones and left a message on all four,' Kevin Garnett said. So Garnett called Ray Allen, a Celtic for about a month now, trying to get through."