Celtics Title Town

Pierce has become a shell of himself on the offensive end. I honestly think he'll bounce back. Because isn't he doing everything else right. He's playing defense, and passing the ball, and let's not forget the double digit rebounds in the past three games. His scoring average dipped in January, and he shot 40% from the field, but he'll break the slump. RIght now he's timid, and he's passing up open three's, and other shots that come up. But in the meantime. He's trying to give the Celtics what Rondo did, and so far he's doing his best.

ESPN Boston

"I'm just trying to play to my abilities," Pierce said. "I'm capable of doing a little bit of everything, just trying to give the game what it needs. So regardless of if it's playing Rondo's role or Sully's role as a rebounder, I'm going to try to fill the needs of what this ball club needs."

Though Pierce had been focusing more on rebounding even before news hit the team Friday that Sullinger would miss the rest of the season after undergoingback surgery, Pierce seemed to have an even more determined mindset on the glass in the wake of the team losing one of it's top rebounders. Pierce hauled in eight rebounds in the first half on Friday, good for nearly a third of the team's total at the break.

"Well my responsibilities go up in other departments now," Pierce said. "Not so much in scoring, but, hey, maybe some nights it will be. But in other departments when you lose one of the best rebounding guards, one of the best rebounding guys off the bench. I just try to put an extra effort and fill in in that department."

I do worry that Pierce will burn out, but if Green continues to perform this well, than Pierce can play 27 minutes a night for most nights. I wished all season that Pierce, and Rondo developed a better two man game. Last season we saw flashes, more than this year. Pierce will need to play at a crazy level if the Celtics want to make noise in the East.