Paul Pierce knew exactly what was at stake Monday night when he dribbled and then lost the ball at the end of regulation.

It was a chance, with the game tied at 86-86, to make one more shot and put away the Magic in four straight games and advance to the NBA Finals. But instead he lost the ball and the Magic were able to stay alive in overtime, outscoring Boston, 10-6 and win 96-92 to force Game 5 Wednesday night in Orlando.

The Magic still trail 3-1 but all of sudden, with two of the next potential three games on Orlando’s home court, the perspective of the series has changed, if only slightly.

“They’re a great team. We’re not going to take them for granted so Game 5 is going to be a tough one on their floor,” Pierce said. “We didn’t want to go back on their floor to play but it is what it is but we’ve got to get another win in their building. That’s the goal.

“We really don’t want to come back here for Game 6. The sense of urgency is going to be there when we get on the road so hopefully, we can take care of business.”

Pierce also took responsibility for the final play of regulation that resulted in no shot for the Celtics and allowed the Magic to survive to overtime.

Pierce had the ball in his hands and was supposed to run a play that called for a pick and roll with Ray Allen but Pierce never got the ball to Allen and Jameer Nelson knocked it away and as time expired.

“We didn’t want to call a time out,” Pierce said the Celtics’ decision to forego a timeout. “It was a pick and roll, me and Ray Allen and I pretty much screwed it up, turned the ball over. That’s all it is, couldn’t get the final shot. Sometimes it happens that way. That’s no excuse and we still had opportunities in overtime and we didn’t take advantage.”

Pierce still finished with a team-high 32 points in over 46 minutes of action.

“[It was] definitely a tough loss,” Pierce said. “You fight so hard to get back in the game and all the ties. I just think the little things hurt us. I thought we really pressed too much, each of us wanted to do it. We weren’t doing the things that got us the 3-0 lead. We kind of felt we was pressing to get the win. They’re a good team and they’re not going to lay down and we can expect them to so gotta move on to Game 5.

“At the end of the day, even though we struggled to get some momentum offensively it still doesn’t, we still didn’t play any defense down the stretch. We gave them a three, offensive rebounds and sent them to the line there in the 4th quarter and overtime. Those type of things hurt when you’re trying to come back. But we made our bed, we gotta lay in and move on.”

8 Comments for “Pierce: ‘We can still take care of business’”

1. Chris G Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 8:19 am

   Sloppy 4th quarter. Bad turnovers. Shot clock running out,bad passes,bad shots, bad blocking out. We still should have put this away.

2. Steve B Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 8:51 am

   Is anyone else nervous? This is just what happened to the Bruins. 3-0 then they lose game 4 in overtime (same as Bruins). Talk of moving on before the series was over (same as Bruins). Fox 25 news showing Celtic Conference champion hats and shirts and we haven’t won yet! I’ve got a bad feeling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. Flipfou Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 9:04 am

   Hey Steve,

   Everything’s fine. Relax. Step away from the edge of the cliff. Celt’s needed a bitch slap and they actually gave themselves one. Orlando didn’t win it as much as C’s gave it away. They’re not the B’s..they’re not “men on skates” — these are winners. C’s 101 – Magic 89 tomorrow night. Count on it. And they take the Lakers in 6. That is all!

4. john Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 10:06 am

   celtics will win the next game for sure!

5. Mke Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 10:52 am

   You can’t allow another championship contender sudden life. Have to get a shot off. Why is Paul Pierce going one on one from half court and no time out? He didn’t get a look or a shot off, inexcusable. PASS the ball.

   Steve B is right, Mo changed hands and you guys will see another game in Boston, bet on it. The Magic aren’t suckers, you needed to finish and now the series starts all over. If Pierce is right and they were “pressing” tonight, expect a big choke in Orlando.

   Let Rondo penetrate and create… unbelievable. How bout a time out to finish the series Doc? And you guys think that kind of selfish game will beat the Lakers? You’re not there yet and you won’t be if you don’t allow your playmaker to make the play.

6. Bill Says:
   May 25th, 2010 at 3:17 pm

   Four times in the last year, the Celtics had four fouls on Dwight Howard early in the third quarter, and four times he had those same four fouls on him at the end of the game. Three times the Celtics lost the game, including Game 7 last year.

   For reasons I don’t understand, the Celtics stop going to the hole, or at least pull up before they get to Howard. They start settling for threes.

   We saw last night how vulnerable the Magic are with Howard on the bench. The key to winning game five is easy: FOUL DWIGHT HOWARD OUT!!

7. Paul Says:
   May 26th, 2010 at 12:33 am

   I wouldn’t be too confident.. Magic now have gotten a second wind due to the C’s careless playing. They have a lot of fire power. They also have a pretty good bench… We’ll see.

8. scott Says:
   May 26th, 2010 at 12:58 am

   the magic would still have to win 3 in a row to pull this out. i dont think they have a snowballs chance in hell. celtics had to much iso with pierce in the second half. doc will fix that. the C’s are winners, they one a championship already they know what they got to do and the will do it. GO RONDO !!!!!

Leave a Reply