Celtics on the midst of a playoff run

After a brief practice at the Sports Authority Training Center in Waltham, Doc Rivers had a brief announcement for his team in the customary end of session huddle.

"Quick announcement, guys." said Rivers. "Paul is the Player of the Week."

A quick cheer and some clapping from the guys, and it was over just like that. No ceremony. No plaques. No keys to a new car.

The reward? Just a few questions from a handful of reporters after practice.

"What do I get for it?" joked Pierce when asked about the achievement, his tenth career Player of the Week award. Pierce asked the same question after he missed out on February's Eastern Conference Player of the Month award, finishing behind Miami's Dwyane Wade.

"It felt good," said Pierce. "Being recognized for my efforts is always great."

It would be hard to overlook the week Pierce had, as he carried the Celtics to a 3-1 record, averaging 30.5 PPG on 52% shooting from the field. He notched the gamewinner in overtime to beat the Wizards Tuesday, dropped a triple-double on the Sixers at the Garden Wednesday, and then closed out the week with a 36-point effort Sunday night against the Nuggets.

Rivers was pleased to see his captain honored.

"He deserved that obviously," said Rivers. "He's playing great. He's done what we've asked him to do and then he's doing more. Obviously he's making shots, and that means things are going in your favor."

Pierce is in the midst of the best basketball of his career, and he said that despite the pressure of chasing a playoff spot, the team is enjoying the intensity and challenge of putting together a late-season run for the postseason.

"This is always the fun part of the year," said Pierce. "Fighting for playoff positioning, everybody's competitive juices are flowing. It's March now, we've got about four weeks left and this is when guys turn it up."

Pierce has certainly turned his play up, and he's caught up in the Celtics' race for a playoff spot. As of Monday afternoon, the Celtics are 3.5 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but Pierce feels that the team's record doesn't reveal how good the team really is.

"Our record really doesn't indicate what type of team we are. We lost so many close games. We could easily have a reversed record. The fans know that. They're knowledgeable," said Pierce. "We're in pretty much every game. It's exciting when every game you know you can win."

Full article: http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/noteboo ... ierce.html

Celtics will NOT make the playoffs whatsoever. Pierce is playing much better but they are way behind to mak the playoffs.

damn people stop makin threads about this stuff. Especailly the Celtics!

Im gettin sick of Pierce this Pierce that.

HES GOOD WE KNOW

And the Celtics are NOT going to make the playoffs

Celtics making the playoffs..lol..best laugh of the day for me.

I'm close to exploding, but please fucking stop making threads about your Celtics. Just post all of your news articles and all that in one thread, and keep the place clean!

damn these threads to hell.

Damn the devil!

Damn the devil to hell!

Sorry, bedazzled quote

Yeah well as much as I would like to see the Celtics try and shit on the Heat, its not gonna happen

The only they will make playoffs, is if they start starting Gerald Green

oh my fucking god

go fuck aldrin or something

On-topic: can someone check if need4shoot = Shaun?

need4shoot is posting from China so I'm guessing not. Shaun sent me an email wanting to be unbanned, it's the worst excuse I've ever heard but it's currently under review.

Ah ok, I just saw need4shoot's avatar and sig and I thought.. no, not another one..

need4shoot is posting from China so I'm guessing not. Shaun sent me an email wanting to be unbanned, it's the worst excuse I've ever heard but it's currently under review.

Oh, please do tell.

boston is only 4 games out.. they sort of making a push..

boston is only 4 games out.. they sort of making a push..

That's sad.

i don't know why you guys are laughing- Boston has a legit shot to make it to the playoffs.

the 2 current teams holding the 7th and 8th spots are not doing anything to distance themselves from the teams below them.

Iverson is hurt and expected to miss some games. Milwaukee is thinking of lineup changes

Boston has 5 weeks to make up 4 games. that's definitely a possibility.

^^True - everyone (including me) is just plain sick of the boston homer threads.

On-topic: can someone check if need4shoot = Shaun?

Hahaha.
I was thinkin' the same thing.
Please no more threads about Celtics.

Playoffs are a possibility if they win more games, but I don't see any of the teams making too big of a slip to allow the Celtics to come back in it.

I guess it's always a possibility. It's the NBA, you never know. Philly might slip a bit because Iverson's out of the lineup for 4 games, and the Celtics are 4 games back. But Chicago will probably catch them first.

i think early in the season i said Boston will make playoffs...that was based on their good play but shitty 4th quarters. Anyways, looks like they figured the 4th out now. Still, it's a race to get whooped by Detroit!!! let's hope it's Bucks, that'll mean ESPN here will show most games.

Playoffs are a possibility if they win more games, but I don't see any of the teams making too big of a slip to allow the Celtics to come back in it.

those teams don't need to have a big slip for Boston or Chicago to take their spot(s). the lead currently is ONLY 4.5 games. a little winning/losing streak could easily change up the standings

btw just a few weeks back, Boston was 9 games back.