Projo Sports Blog

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The Celtics have only played three preseason games, but captain Paul Pierce appears to be in mid-season form already.

Pierce poured in a game-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 29 minutes of action to lead the Celtics to a 100-93 victory over the 0-3 New Jersey Nets Sunday afternoon at the TD Banknorth Garden.

The Celtics are slowly but surely growing into the team they want to be once the season starts - a healthy squad with a full gambit of plays in their arsenal.

That's not where they are right now. Backup guard Tony Allen, who is recovering from ankle surgery this past summer, did not play, while Kevin Garnett is trying to regain his strength in his surgically repaired right knee and the stamina that he had when he went down with the injury back in February.

Like Pierce, Garnett looked the best that he has all preseason. Not only did he knock down his first four shots, but he finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes while playing solid defense, though he did get dunked on by New Jersey center Brook Lopez (21 points, 8 rebounds) because he failed to box Lopez out after a missed New Jersey shot.

As for Allen, Rivers said that he has "good days and bad days."

The Celtics are light years ahead on the defensive end of the floor than they are on the offensive side, though they were a lot more efficient on the offensive end on Sunday (45.2 percent shooting) compared to their poor shooting performance last Friday against the Knicks. The Celtics have played their first three preseason games with a limited offensive playbook thus far.

The victory is nice, but what Boston coach Doc Rivers has to be really happy about is how the Celtics won. Boston only led, 73-71, entering the fourth quarter and they did not play any starters in the fourth. Boston's second unit struggled last Friday against the New York Knicks, but on Sunday they executed better on both ends of the floor which helped lead to Boston's win.

Boston's "second unit" of Lester Hudson (3 points), Eddie House (13 points), Glen Davis (6 points, 4 rebounds), Marquis Daniels (9 points, 3 rebounds), and Rasheed Wallace (4 points, 5 rebounds) began the fourth quarter with a 14-3 run, and they did that against a New Jersey team that still had its starters in the game.

The Celtics cruised after that.

More to come...

 Tags  Boston Celtics Celtics Nets New Jersey Nets Rob Lee Robert Lee

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