BOSTON — He has chased Knicks point guards at times and guarded one of the game’s most prolific scorers, Carmelo Anthony, at others.
In between, the Celtics also have asked Paul Pierce to initiate the offense, pass out of the post and, of course, score.
Go ahead, add any other chore you want. The Celtics likely will get around to asking Pierce to handle that, too. So coach Doc Rivers knows there has to be some responsibility restructuring for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series with the Knicks tonight.
“We’re not going to put all that pressure on Paul,” Rivers said before practice yesterday. “If we’re asking Paul to score, start the offense and pass the ball, we’re going to struggle scoring.”
In case you’ve been encased in bubble wrap, the Celtics have had trouble scoring in the series — one solid reason they’re down, 0-2.
“We can be more creative because that’s just asking Paul to do too much. We’re asking him to guard Carmelo at times, we’re asking him to bring the ball up the floor at times. We’re asking him to be our post passer,” Rivers continued. “He’s Paul Pierce. He’s not [Superman].”
Pierce has led the Celtics’ scoring with games of 21 and 18 points, topped their assists (13) and placed second in minutes to Jeff Green in the two defeats. Pierce, however, just shrugged and noted how it goes with the territory. The Celtics lost point guard Rajon Rondo in late January and have been cut-and-pasting ever since.
“It all comes with the job. I wouldn’t be asked if I wasn’t capable,” Pierce said. “You understand that winning isn’t easy. I expect hard.”
Hard is exactly what the Celtics face. They failed to score 80 points in either of the two defeats. After competitive first halves, they were stomped after halftime twice. In Game 1, they scored 25 points after halftime then followed that with a 23-point Game 2 second-half output.
The defense hasn’t been highlight-reel stuff, either. Not when you give up 32 points in the third quarter of Game 2.
“That one quarter that was the biggest difference,” Pierce said. “We have to get stops [to] give ourselves the best chance. You can’t give up 30 points in a quarter in a playoff game.”
That’s why the Celtics find themselves where they are. And exactly where is that?
“Desperation,” Pierce said. “We’re down 0-2. We’ve got to be a desperate team. Just because you got two home games doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a guaranteed win. We’ve got to go out and play like a desperate team with a huge sense of urgency because Game 3, our season’s definitely on the line.”