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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGIC

May 16, 2010

Paul Pierce

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game One

Boston Celtics 92
Orlando Magic 88

Q. Paul, when you started out did you feel you had your touch tonight? It seemed like you were really on right at the start. You only ended up with eight shots. How did all of that happen?
PAUL PIERCE: From the start Doc told me to be aggressive from the meeting this morning. I look up I only got eight shots. I know I could have been a little more aggressive. But I try to do things within the framework of the team and pick my spots.
But I was able to get to the line, rebound the ball and do other things to help us win. That was key to me, just go out there and stay aggressive the whole game.

Q. Talk about the defensive pressure that you guys put up and the key to winning Game 1 of this series.
PAUL PIERCE: Well, that's who we are. We're A defensive team. We feel like we want to get up into the guy's shooters and not allow them to get free looks. We feel like we have guys who can cover Dwight such as Perk and Rasheed and Baby. That allows to us get up on our shooters and be more aggressive and not allow us to open up their three-point game. I think that's going to be the key for us throughout the rest of the playoffs, in this series. But that's pretty much who we are. We're a defensive team. Apply some pressure and see what happens.

Q. Did you guys feel like coming into this that you were in a really good rhythm coming off the Cleveland series and getting right back in and playing this and they've been off for a week?
PAUL PIERCE: Yeah, I really did. I really felt like the two days off was just enough. We've been playing every other day for the last week. We feel really good going into this game. The rhythm was there. The defense was there. The passing was there.
We didn't lose too much from the two days. But we got to expect Orlando to be a lot better in Game 2, even though they had a week off. I don't know if it helped or hurt them. Who knows what the outcome would have been if they had a shorter rest. That's the way the schedule is. Hopefully we come into Game 2 with the same type of rhythm.

Q. Talk about your aggressiveness in the third quarter. You had 13 in the third quarter. You guys had that 15-1 run and stretched that lead to 20.
PAUL PIERCE: I was a little upset with the way I played in the second quarter because I had more turnovers in the second quarter than shot attempts. I was a little tentative. The key for me is just to stay aggressive. When the shot is there, take them. I thought I was passing up some shots in the second quarter. So I wanted in the third quarter if the shot was there, Doc was telling me to be aggressive. "Take your time. The shots are going to be there. Just take your time." I was able to be aggressive, whether I found guys or got to the mid-range jumper.

Q. Can you talk about how you get the three-shot foul, how you pulled that play off? How do you get it to happen first and foremost?
PAUL PIERCE: I saw after I got, I think it was a rebound or a steal or something, I saw Jameer. It looked like he was going to foul me intentionally just to stop the break. And once I saw that, I wanted to get the ball up as fast as possible without putting it on the ground for three shots. Just the way he was looking, he was coming in to grab me. I wanted to get the ball up.

Q. We're going to look at the points and people are going to look at that stuff. The nine rebounds you had and just talk about getting to loose balls and that kind of thing and the importance for your guys overall.
PAUL PIERCE: The bigs always talk about, and Coach, the guards have to be able to come in and get the long rebounds. Dwight is a load to box out. Obviously, he's the league's leading rebounder. Perk, he always says, "I'm going to put a body on him." Box him out and the guard has to come in and get the rebounds. I think we made a conscious effort in that. Not only me but Ray coming in and getting the rest. That's going to be the key how well we rebound the ball against a very, very good rebounding team.

Q. How important was it for you guys to show Orlando that they can be beat? It had been a month and a half since they lost. Is that any sort of confidence factor on your part?
PAUL PIERCE: It's been that long since they lost a game? We honestly didn't realize that. I don't think as a team we pay too much attention to what's happening in the past. We really focus in on that day's game. They've definitely been playing well. I can't take that away from them. The focus for us is to try to win every game when we step on the court regardless of what the team is doing in the past. You have to show up for today's game. That's what it's all about. Those are the things we really don't worry about.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Paul.

End of FastScripts

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