Paul Pierce has always had a flair for the dramatic. So it was fitting, with the Celtics set to face the Nets in Brooklyn Tuesday night in the first regular-season game between the teams since their blockbuster trade this summer, Pierce made a surprising return to practice and declared he has a “good chance” of playing against his old team less than two weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand.
“It felt good to get out there with the guys after about a week or so,” Pierce said after Monday’s practice at the team’s facility. “I still have some pain in the hand, but it’s something that’s tolerable.”
Pierce had been scheduled to speak to reporters for the first time since suffering a non-displaced fracture of the third metacarpal in his right (shooting) hand in Houston on Nov. 29, an injury that was supposed to keep him out for 2-4 weeks. But he surprised everyone by returning to full practice, just 10 days after suffering the injury, and reported no setbacks afterwards.
“It didn’t really get tested like I would like it to get tested where it was getting hit,” he said, “but I thought I shot the ball really well, got up and down the court pretty good.”
The fracture was so small that it took a pair of X-rays and an MRI exam to finally discover, after doctors initially thought he was only dealing with a bruised hand.
He was only wearing a light black wrap on his hand Saturday, when he spent some time shooting before the Nets’ game in Milwaukee – though he appeared to grimace whenever he followed through. After practicing Monday, Pierce said the pain had decreased to the point where he is now able to play through it.
“The pain is bearable now,” he said. “I’ve been able to shoot the last three days. Before that, I probably couldn’t catch the ball or pound the ball. There’s still some pain in there, but it’s something I can live with.”
Pierce said the team has ordered a protective device for his hand. He said he was injured when he caught an elbow on the top of his hand while trying to fight through a screen.
The device didn’t arrive in time for Monday’s practice, however, leading him to wear a heavy-duty glove with extra padding on the top and the fingers cut out. He said he isn’t concerned about potentially making the injury worse, after doctors told him there was only a small chance of doing so.
“Well, it’s not like it’s a ligament tear or a muscle tear,” he said. “It’s a small, displaced, chipped bone. The doctor said it probably won’t get hurt any worse unless you get hit similarly or the same and kind of break it, but I don’t really have any fear of that.”
Pierce also said he doesn’t have any apprehension about facing the Celtics again in Brooklyn, after playing them in the preseason and with so many of the people he had grown close to in Boston – including current teammate Kevin Garnett, former coach Doc Rivers and former teammate Ray Allen – all plying their trade elsewhere.
“You know what? I’ve already been past that part a long time ago,” Pierce said, though he added making his first trip back to Boston will be much tougher. “I’m a person that’s always been, when it’s time to move on, you move on.
“You can ask any girlfriend I’ve ever had,” he continued with a smile. “It’s just the way it is. So there’s no hard feelings. I’m here, this where I’m at now and you’ve got to move on. You can’t mourn or put your head down. This is what it is.”
Pierce was in the midst of a terrible shooting slump before going down, going 37-for-119 (31.1 percent) in the 11 games he played in before getting hurt, performing — like the rest of the Nets — below the lofty expectations.
“I’ve had my ups and downs,” he said. “But it’s not about me. It’s about getting this team healthy right now, and try to see if we can reach our potential.”
Pierce declared before the season the Nets’ goal was to win a championship this season. Despite the 6-14 start, he still sees the potential for a deep postseason run.
“I think we have the potential of a championship team, the talent of a championship team,” he said. “It’s just about putting it all together, developing the chemistry, getting healthy, and then seeing what we’ve got.”