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NBA FINALS: CELTIC v LAKERS

June 10, 2010

Paul Pierce

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Four

Los Angeles Lakers 89
Boston Celtics 96

Q. Paul, how important was it for you to get yourself going there in the first quarter? And what did you do in the fourth quarter to get the lead and maintain it?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, for one, you know, it really ain't about me. I just wanted to be aggressive. I mean, that wasn't the most important thing for us on the list to get Paul Pierce going coming into the game. But Doc just told me to be aggressive at the start of the game, put me in a couple pick-and-rolls early, try to get to the lane, be aggressive, and that's about it. I knew once I got in the pick-and-roll with their big men, I got an advantage and just tried to take advantage of it, that's all.
But today the story was all about our bench, man. I'm not going to take nothing away from them. They came out and got the job done. The starters were solid, we couldn't pull away, but the bench came in and got it done.

Q. Doc said he wanted you to drive more to the basket. Were you looking to take Artest to the line more?
PAUL PIERCE: Just looking to be aggressive, man. I don't predetermine what I'm going to do in a game. If I've got a 15-foot jumper that's open, I'm going to take it. I can knock those shots down. If I've got a three-pointer that's open, the lane open -- the guys were setting great picks between Perk and Kevin. I was cutting off the ball. I think that was big. And the guys, they just got me open. That's all it was.

Q. You talked about the great picks your guys were setting, but clearly this game was allowed to be a lot more physical than the first three. Did that play to your strengths at all, this team?
PAUL PIERCE: You know, we liked the way the game was played today, just real physical, real grind-it-out type of game, both teams in the 80s pretty much, and that's the type of game we like. We don't really want to get into a scoring dual with the Lakers when they're going out and trying to score 120 points. If the game is in the 80s and 70s, that means both teams are pretty much in the half court playing tough, grind-it-out defense. We were able to do that for the most part until the bench came in, and boy, they got the job done tonight.
It was fun to be on the sideline in the fourth quarter because to start the fourth Doc was like, "One minute and I'm putting you in the game. You're not sitting too long, so just be ready." Then you look up, we tie the game, then go up two, three and then they push the lead to seven. And I don't get back in the game for three minutes because the bench went out there between Baby, Nate, TA with the defense, Rasheed. Then Ray went out there to settle them all down. It was beautiful to watch just being a cheerleader on the sideline.

Q. You talked about Baby, talk about where he's come from in two years making these baskets and dominating the paint when he's getting offensive rebounds, and controlling the game like that?
PAUL PIERCE: Baby is a much more confident player now. You saw what he did last year in the playoffs. He came into his own when Kevin was hurt, had big games versus Orlando and Chicago, and he's going to be big. Our whole bench is going to be big. Just a couple years ago the first championship we won, Baby wasn't even in the rotation. So to be here in this spotlight, to come in with a big game like, that is huge for him. We're going to need it. Like I told you before, we're going to need it from all 15 guys.

Q. Did guarding LeBron, guarding Wade, guarding Vince Carter, did that at all help you in your preparation in trying to defend Kobe?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, I haven't really guarded Kobe too much --

Q. Team-wise.
PAUL PIERCE: Oh, okay, yeah. We played against the best -- right there is the cream of the crop right there when you talk about the scorers, scouting report. Obviously when you go to the scouting report, Kobe is much more difficult on the scouting report because of the things he does. I think between Wade and LeBron they're special in their own right, but Kobe overall is tough, and those series definitely helped us prepare team-wise to load up and be ready for him when he gets into the lane to make shots tougher on him. Those guys definitely prepared us for that.

Q. When you guys played Miami it seemed like even if Wade went nuts, you guys were fine with that as long as everybody else didn't do the same. Would you say that's the mentality here, as well?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, in that series, you know, the goal was to slow and stop Wade. We couldn't do that. We couldn't stop Wade. We just said we're going to stop, try to stop the other guys. With this, you've not only got to stop Kobe, you've got to stop the other guys because they're capable of playing big, too. So in some ways it helped us and in some ways not so much because factor in the other four starters.
You have to guard these guys at all times. All of them can beat you for a game, like Fisher showed last game, Gasol has done it, Bynum has done it, Ron has done it in the playoffs. That's what makes Kobe so difficult to guard because you really can't help out too many people that they put on the court.

Q. I know you said you tried to be aggressive tonight but I'm going to go out on a limb and think you probably want to be aggressive every game. You had two very subpar offensive games the last two games. What was the difference tonight in you getting going offensively aside from being aggressive?
PAUL PIERCE: I think just Coach giving me a few calls here and there. A lot of times, you know, in this series we ran a lot of plays through Kevin and Rondo, high pick-and-roll. Haven't run a lot of pick-and-rolls with me in it but Coach said today he was going to do more with me pick-and-roll and slashing to the basket. I don't complain about the way the offense is going and what we've been able to accomplish because at the end of the day it's about winning games and whether I score or I'm aggressive or not, my whole goal is to help win games. Coach drew up a few more plays for me today, and I was just capitalizing on them.

Q. At the end of the game when you did come back in for the starters, you had two big hoops and the three-point play. Those were huge coming at the time they came.
PAUL PIERCE: Yeah. When I came in the game Rondo said he was going to give me the pick-and-roll. Coach said also, let's get a pick-and-roll with Kevin and myself. Those guys said attack, be aggressive. Don't be passive. I think when I'm passive, I turn the ball over or things don't go my way. But when I play on my instincts and attack and you know aggressive I'm a much better player, and that's what I wanted to do when I got back in there in the fourth.

Q. You mentioned Tony Allen's great defense, and he wasn't really playing such a big role in 2008. How much of an asset is having him against Kobe especially tonight?
PAUL PIERCE: It's been big for us all throughout the playoffs, Wade, LeBron, Kobe. Just a guy that's in the rotation who thinks about nothing but defense, hustling, getting loose balls. And every great team needs a guy like that. He takes so much pressure off me and Ray, the scorers, working so hard to get points. To have a guy that can come in and take pressure off us and guard the other team's best player or pretty much anybody. You throw Tony out there he can pretty much guard three positions on the perimeter, and that's huge for us.

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