By John Ricardo
As the Boston Celtics beat Indiana Pacers 94-87 on Friday night, they also became a .500 team, which they weren't expecting to be at this time in the season.
Paul Pierce was the man of the hour, as he led the Celtics with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists; while Kevin Garnett- who's the only Celtic to play in every game this season- boosted Boston as they surpassed Indiana, 45-42, limiting them to six second-chance points.
Pierce said, "That was the focus right there. We understood they're the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the league. We looked at the tape and (saw) we could get stops on them, we did last game, we just didn't get the rebound. If we could do that, we could run on them. And I thought we did a good job getting offensive rebounds."
A week ago, the Celtics weren't in an as bright state as they fell four games below .500, as they battled to replace Rajon Rondo who's down with a right wrist injury. Pierce also faced question marks regarding his consistency as he recovered from a heel bruise.
Pierce seems to have bounced back, while the Celtics have been on a four-game winning streak. He also seems to have regained his shooting touch and taken on Rondo's role of the playmaker, with an average averaging 26.3 points and 8.8 assists. Boston also increased their intensity defensively and below the basket.
In the previous two losses, the Celtics were outrebounded by the Pacers, as they tied a team low with a 25-point first half in an 87-74 home loss earlier in January. But things were different this time around.
After the Celtics restricted the Pacers to a .350 field goal success, Pierce said, "It's our defense. I mean, you look at the defensive numbers, we've been holding teams to really low shooting percentages. We've been keeping teams under 100, rebounding the ball a lot better."
The game took place within 24-hours of the Celtics' 91-83 victory in Orlando. While the Celtics kept the same momentum, they wavered early in the second half before Pierce got them back in tune.
Danny Granger capped a 14-4 Indiana run, as he tied the game at 46 with 8:44 to go in the third quarter. But Pierce took over with 11-0 run over a 2::04 period. He scored 17 points, and added two assists during the quarter, as the Celtics finished the quarter leading by 10.
Pierce got down to the ground to keep the Celtics going. He rebound his own miss, then fed Chris Wilcox for a dunk and a 69-57 edge with 2:39 remaining, before he took a break till 4:44 into the final quarter.
Defending Avery Bradley on Pacers point guard Darren Collison turned out to be a good idea, as the Celtics held off the Pacers. Marquis Daniels's dunk on a turnover gave an 81-65 advantage with 8:39 left, after which the Pacers rallied with a 10-0 run over a period of 2:31.
With a three-pointer, Mickael Pietrus broke a three-minute scoreless streak of the Celtics, followed by Pierce taking two Granger foul shots with a left-handed drive. With 4:26 to go on the clock, Garnett made the score 88-77.
Even as the Celtics appeared to be wavering, Pietrus dunked out of a timeout with 2:49 remaining, while Pierce seemed to close out by stealing a rebound from Roy Hibbert. When the Pacers pulled within 7, Pietrus got called for a flagrant-1 foul and a technical for taunting, after which Garnett blocked a Granger drive with 29 seconds left.
As the Celtics finally retured to the .500 mark, Pierce said, "I was telling the guys we're finally at sea level. Now we've got to keep our heads above water."
