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“Well, I figure this might be my last time anyway going to Jersey,” Pierce said before last night’s 84-79 loss to the Raptors. “This could be my last year playing.”
He then laughed, making it seem he was perhaps kidding. But he didn’t step back when asked about it further.
“You never know, man,” Pierce said. “I don’t know. I’ve got to preserve my body for the rest of my life.”
Hit with the basic John McEnroe line — you cannot be serious — he shook his head.
“I don’t know,” said the second-leading scorer in Celtics history. “I’ve thought about it. I don’t know. I’ve got to see how my summer goes with my kids.”
Herald: Truth's retirement plan
If I'd participated in that mess last night, I'd talk about leaving game too.
In all seriousness, Pierce has two young girls at home, this schedule has been a killer, the Celtics have been on the road a LOT…I bet a lot of the old veterans have had the same fleeting thoughts about retiring. He never sees his kids anymore and his body is being torn apart right now. I guarantee you he wouldn't be saying the same thing if this was a normal, 82 game season and he had time to be at home and get some rest.
I know he's got to quit at some point, but I don't think its happening after this year. He's still got plenty of good basketball left in him.
On Page 2: Doc admits to screwing up
"I messed their rhythm up a little bit in the first half," Rivers said. "I told them I wasn't going to play them a lot of minutes and give them rest, and then try to make a charge in the second half. I don't think we handled that very well."
[…]"Again, you keep learning your team," Rivers said. "I thought we came out almost in a slow, cool mood, and I thought I activated that somehow."
CSNNE: Doc admits to flawed game plan
Yup… you can't do that with this team. You're better off telling one or two guys "hey, you're sitting tonight
and playing everyone else regular minutes at the regular time. After this stretch of games (and wins), the Celtics were due for a let down and Doc sort of gave them permission to do it.
I'm moving on from this game. It doesn't really concern me much. They maybe gave 10 minutes worth of effort and they almost won the game. I think Pierce launched that 3 one possession too soon. The Celtics should have gone for the two and then fouled. Put pressure on some young player to make the free throws. Then you go for the 3 because you don't want to go to OT. Either win the game or lose it.
Related links: Globe: Rivers jockeys with rotation
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston: North of the border, C's play down | WEEI: C's suffer brutal loss against the Raptors | Rebuilding the Celtics: Restricted free agents | Herald: C's sing "Oh no, Canada" | Globe: Celtics' wake up call comes a little too late
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