Beating the Miami Heat is a challenge anyway, but Boston is going to have to do it without Paul Pierce on Tuesday night.
Doc Rivers confirmed that, reports A. Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com.
That means Sasha Pavlovic gets the start and Marquis Daniels will get a lot of run. Pavlovic talked about getting to guard LeBron James.
“I just have to be as much as aggressive as I can be, make it as hard as I can for him to score the basket,” Pavlovic told CSNNE.com. “Obviously, (LeBron and Dwyane Wade are) both great scorers. It’s not like I’m going to stop them from scoring, but I have to make it tough for them.”
The Celtics missed Pierce on Christmas Day in a loss to the Knicks, they missed his shot creation and ability to drain the midrange jumper. They will miss his maturity against the Heat — Miami wants to run and Boston will want to control the tempo. Pierce is very good at that.
The Celtics play Wednesday in New Orleans, no word yet on if he will go for that game.