Paul Pierce: ‘I have to play better for us’
It’s been frustrating,” coach Doc Rivers said after Friday night’s 88-79 loss to the Bulls, who are in the midst of playing nine games in 12 days and are 7-1 so far in that stretch. It would appear they are in shape.
Which brings us to el capitan. (Paul) Pierce is the living definition of “fighting through it” right now, and it isn’t a pretty sight. He is still trying to overcome the dual challenges of having no training camp and a sore heel — and his recovery is being played out not in the privacy of the practice court in Waltham, but in full view at TD Garden or wherever the Celtics happen to be playing on the road.
Pierce knows he’s not where he wants to be, where he needs to be, but as he told a group of reporters afterward, “I think you guys are more discouraged than me.”
Still, he acknowledged, “I have to play better for us to win ballgames, and I realize that. I’m not going to say I’m 100 percent. I didn’t come back 100 percent. I’m getting back in basketball shape. The heel isn’t all the way where I’d like it to be. At some point in the season, it will be. It’s nothing I’m worried about right now.”
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