Perfect ending for Celtics: A win where Pierce hits final shot

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BOSTON – As Paul Pierce stepped on the parquet to start his usual pregame shooting routine hours before tip-off, he was greeted by onlookers who were pleased to see him in what would be his final game as a player at the TD Garden.
 
“This is all love,” Pierce told CSNNE.com in between signing autographs. “I’m trying to hold it all in.”
 
He didn’t play much, but Doc Rivers put him back in the game with 19.8 seconds to play and Pierce did what Pierce did a lot of at the TD Garden – he made a 3-pointer, which would be the final made shot in Boston’s 107-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
 
For Celtics fans, this was the perfect game.
 
It was the only shot Pierce made in the game and, like so many before it, will be remembered for quite some time.
 
Afterward, he was greeted by lots of hugs and pats on the back from fellow players, cheers from the crowd, the kind of finale that was almost too good to be true.
 
The fans certainly had a lot to love about Sunday’s game, but Pierce got as much out of this as they did.
 
Before the game, it was Pierce in the role of fanboy, pulling ball boys and anyone he could find from his 15 seasons as a Celtic, aside to take a picture with him.
 
Yes, the star player asking for a picture and not the other way around.
 
“A lot of these people I took pictures with, they grew with me,” Pierce said when I asked him about it. “From the ball boys … staff members, we all grew together.”

Pierce added, “I’m appreciating this because I know it’s my last go-around,” he told CSNNE.com moments before taking to the floor for what would be his final start on the TD Garden floor. “I appreciate times like this even more. I’ve been appreciating every single day. With this my last year, I’m documenting everything.”
 
Despite all the attention paid to Pierce and his final game at the TD Garden as a player, there was still a game to be played.
 
And give the Celtics credit.
 
It could have been easy to allow Pierce’s finale to be a distraction.
 
Isaiah Thomas had another Isaiah Thomas-like game, leading seven double-figure scorers for Boston with 28 points and eight assists. The Clippers were led by Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford each scoring 23 points.
 
The game got a little closer than it should have as the Clippers had a chance to make it a one-possession game with less than a minute to play.
 
But Boston’s defense got a stop, Thomas went to the line with 30.2 seconds to play and sank a pair of free throws.
 
The Clippers called a timeout, trailing the Celtics, 105-99.
 
Boston having such a close finish didn’t seem likely considering how the game was playing out for most of the day.
 
The Celtics opened the game by scoring the first six points and soon built their lead up to as many as 15 points (29-14) in the first quarter before settling on a 29-19 lead at the end of the first.
 
Boston spent a good chunk of the second quarter maintaining a double-digit lead, but a 10-0 run by the Clippers brought them within 43-41 with more than three minutes to play in the half.
 
Timely shot making and good defense allowed Boston to close out the first half with some momentum that was fueled by a 13-6 spurt that put them ahead 56-47 at the half.
 
Both teams exchanged shots and defensive stops in the third quarter, only for the Celtics to start pulling away courtesy of a 15-7 spurt that gave them an 81-65 lead which was their largest of the game.
 
The third quarter ended with the Celtics ahead, 81-67.


 

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