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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v MAGICMay 21, 2010Paul PierceBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. How was the practice? PAUL PIERCE: Actually, really good for us. You can tell by the sweat on my jersey. Some real practice, man. It was good to just come here and sharpen up. The team isn't going to rest on their laurels. We have two-game advantage, but we don't look at it like that. We look at it as a must-win game. Q. Doc talked about getting you away from everything for the last few days. What did you do? PAUL PIERCE: I don't think he has to do much. We have a very focused group. It's not like it's our first time getting to the Eastern Conference Finals winning two games. You know, we know what the job at hand is. Go out there and take it one game at a time and protect our home court. Q. The last time you guys had (Indiscernible)? PAUL PIERCE: Definitely you can learn from the things you've been through. We don't take these practices for granted. That's why we made sure we are sharp the last two days. Continue, to win four games. I don't know if we took it for granted last time winning the game on the road, taking a few days off. We're not this time. Q. How do you make sure you -- PAUL PIERCE: We have to win the game, I mean. We have to go out there and put the effort in. We have to make sure we're sharp. We have to make sure we're focused. It's all about what we do on our court. The practice, whether good or bad, we have to go out there and perform on the court at a high level. We have to expect their best. It's all about the mindset at this point. Q. How does your playoff experience differ up to this point from two years ago? PAUL PIERCE: It's a little more challenging, I'll tell you that. Going on the road so much. Second round, third round. I think we played two of the hottest teams in basketball. It's definitely more challenging, even though we went seven games the year we won it. It's just mentally a lot tougher and physically. Tougher mentally and physically, the road we had to take to get here. Q. Would it be harder to win it all this year under those circumstances? PAUL PIERCE: If that happens, I'll be able to answer that. I'll see how I feel. Q. (Indiscernible)? PAUL PIERCE: You guys asked me these questions. There's no comparing the teams. You want to make them similar, make them worse, make them better. It's new players. It's not the same thing. We're trying to build our own identity with this team and win the championship. Definitely some similarities with some of the players. Then we added new players. The road is a lot different. When you talk about comparing the two teams, it's different. Only way we can talk about this is if we win another championship. And then I'll be able to tell you better. Q. (Indiscernible)? PAUL PIERCE: Honestly want to play better defensively. Probably on me. Who knows what they'll do as far as trapping and different match-ups. Probably get J.J. ready to go. He's had some success when he's in the game. You think about those little things. We're going to make some adjustments ourselves. We feel like we haven't played our perfect game yet. So just like they have to make adjustments, we're going to make adjustments to get better too. Q. If they put Barnes on you, how does that affect you? PAUL PIERCE: It doesn't affect what I'm trying to do. It doesn't affect anything I'm trying to do offensively. Q. Will this series get more physical? Do you expect it to? PAUL PIERCE: You always expect things to be at a high level. Especially at this point in the season. Especially at this point with their backs against the wall. Yeah, it can get very intense. You have two teams fighting for the same thing. When you are fighting over that thing you dreamed about the most, you practiced and worked so hard to achieve, man, it can get feisty in there. You have to expect it. Q. Is there anything you do or say to the guys about complacency, up 2-0 and coming back home with the long layoff? Is there anything you have to say to these guys? PAUL PIERCE: No. I know these guys. If I see it, I will. Not these guys. This group is very focused and determined. There's not much I have to say. Q. You guys haven't been so great at home this year. Do you think you've solved that problem? Do you think you've turned that around? PAUL PIERCE: We turned a lot of things around. Hopefully it will continue in the playoffs. We're playing well at home. That's not what we worry about. We're not thinking about what happened before. We're thinking about what's happening right now. What's going to happen tomorrow or yesterday -- yesterday already happened. Tomorrow is going to come. It is what it is. We are a confident team at home right now. Q. You went to the line a lot more than in the Cleveland series. Are you doing anything different? PAUL PIERCE: More aggressive. Like I told you after the first game, I'm more aggressive. Don't have to worry about taking LeBron James. Trying to stay out of foul trouble. Just playing with less fouls. Q. Did you have any doubts earlier in the season about what this team would be like come playoff time -- PAUL PIERCE: I never had any doubts. Truthfully. It was tough mentally when you lose all those games and you struggle. I always stay positive. I thought things are going to turn around when the playoffs start. As the playoffs come, try to stay positive. You work things out. You don't go in saying it's going to be tough trying to get the first round, second round. You have to stay positive when you want to achieve something great. End of FastScripts |
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