Pierce: ‘The knee was fine'

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BOSTON -- The last time Paul Pierce scored 7 points was during a January 11 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Four months later, Pierce posted the same total, also during a Boston Celtics loss.

Pierce shot just 2-for-9 from the field during the Philadelphia 76ers' 82-81 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He scored twice that total in Game 1 on Saturday, and averaged 21.2 points per game against the Atlanta Hawks in the previous round.

Pierce, who has been battling a sprained MCL in his left knee, said his injury did not attribute to his performance.

"The knee was fine," he said. "I wore my knee brace today."

The 76ers aren't relying on an injury to slow down Pierce. Coach Doug Collins credited Andre Iguodala for restricting the Celtics captain.

As Ive said before, I feel like Andre Iguodala is a premiere defensive player at his position," said Collins. "We played Boston this year three times, we played Atlanta three times, and Indiana four times. And we had seven wins against those three teams, three premiere teams in the Eastern Conference. A big part of that was we have a guy that makes Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, or Danny Granger work hard every single night and we dont have to double team, and he fights through all the picks and he has long arms, and hes strong and hes quick."

Pierce has played this far into the postseason with an injury and won't use it as an excuse at any point.

"I never have doubts, you always think you're going to win," he said. "But unfortunately we didn't today."

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