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Paul Pierce should not play tonight and not until his bummed knee improves. He is hurt. He is ineffective. The Celtics are a better team without him on the floor. Paul Pierce continuing to play injured does nothing to help the Celtics this post-season. The only thing that can help this team is his rest, and rest he should for as long as it takes to make some serious improvements in his knee.

Without Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen in game 2 against the Hawks a mere two weeks ago down 1-0 in the series, vintage Paul Pierce took over exactly when the Celtics needed him most. Scoring 36 (including several clutch baskets) while bringing down 14 rebounds, this is a game that truly depicts the type of player Paul Pierce is and will be remembered for. Under pressure, Pierce will go down as one greatest in the history of this league and this performance justly portrays why. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going for Paul. This fact cannot be ignored.

There comes a time when a man physically cannot perform up to a reasonable speed due to an injury and the best thing for him to do is to sit. This is one of these times for Pierce. Additionally, Pierce has top-notch defender Andre Iguodala tracking his every step while holding him to 25% shooting from the field so far this series. A hobbled Paul Pierce is not going to have success against Andre Iguodala no matter what is on the line. He’s just not.

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#CelticsTalk: The #NBA announces new Competition Committee that includes 3 head coaches. #Celtics Doc Rivers is one of them.

— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) May 16, 2012

Flannery has the details:

The other members include: owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); general managers Bryan Colangelo (Toronto Raptors), Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers), Kevin O'Connor (Utah Jazz), and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas Mavericks), Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies) and Rivers. The NBPA will designate one of its members to serve on the committee.

That seems like the perfect mix of GM's and coaches. If the Lakers are included, you gotta throw in the Celtics. You've got pugnacious owner Dan Gilbert on one side and a smart, young GM in Sam Presti on the other. You can bet that flopping, flagrant foul reviews, and subsequent suspensions will be on the agenda. The first meeting is scheduled during The Finals. Let's hope that Doc gets an absentee vote because he'll be coaching in June.

Doc's a great choice. He's a well-respected coach by his peers and players alike and his history as a former player gives him great insight about the game. He was also received the Rudy Tomjanovich award from the Professional Basketball Writers Association for his cooperation with the media and fans.

There's been a lot of talk about the offense since the Celtics dropped Game 2. Some credit is due to the Sixers; they were the third best defensive team in the regular season in terms of points per game (89.4) and are putting up even better numbers in the playoffs (84.9). Part of it is that the Celtics are a jump-shooting team and jump-shooting teams can get streaky. Last night's second and third quarters notwithstanding, Boston is shooting at almost an identical clip in the regular and post-season. From 10-15 feet, the Celtics averaged 3.6 makes to 8.8 attempts in the regular season and 3.75 makes to 8.88 attempts in the playoffs. From 16-23 feet, the Celtics averaged 9.8 makes to 23.7 attempts in the regular season and 9.75 makes to 24.38 attempts in the playoffs. It's scary how identical those numbers are. And of course, there are the injuries. Pierce's sprained MCL has robbed him of his explosiveness and Ray's bone spurs have him shooting 61% from the free throw line. And can you imagine this team with Jeff Green, Jermaine O'Neal, and Chris Wilcox right now?

But even with all these obstacles, the Celtics are winning, can continue to win, and raise #18. Doc's a great X's and O's guy and he's masterful drawing up plays out of timeouts to find the right shot for the right guy, but not every play can be perfectly diagrammed and executed. There are about 90 possessions in a game and basketball is a free-flowing sport where nothing can really be scripted, but sometimes, you just have to simplify. Basketball is just one giant game of Choose Your Own Adventure: there's usually two different paths and each has their own consequences. If you cut off someone's lane to the basket, they can pull up for a jumper. If you try and go over a screen, you might get caught and they can drive right past you. With the Celtics, their offense has bogged down at times and sometimes, in key situations. It's as if they forget that they're one of the most talented teams in the league and no matter the scheme, they'll be able to attack any defense. Boston is equipped to deal with either The Lady or The Tiger.

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Don't know why I never thought of this before, but I must say that the word "random" is about as good a word as you can get to describe Rajon Rondo's game. Like a great jazz player jamming with his band, you never know what's coming next and that's part of what makes him so great.

Of course the flipside is that sometimes that randomness comes out flat. Sometimes the band mates or teammates just can't pick up on the groove that he's putting down which makes everyone look bad. Perhaps that's what's going on with Rondo lately. Well, that and the Sixers defense.

Celtics try to strike delicate balance - BostonHerald.com

The problem — and blessing — is that much has been left to Rondo’s whim. As much as Rivers dislikes when Rondo starts to freelance in what they call "random" mode, improvisation is also what makes the point guard great. "That’s a tough one, and it is every night," Rivers said of trying to find a balance between random and set offense. "I let Rondo do that. I need him to just go play, and we try to figure it out during the game. We need him in random. As much as any guard in the league he needs to be in random at times.

Still, I see Rondo's randomness as an asset so much more often than a liability, regardless of what the critics might say. I fully expect him to listen to his coach, figure out a good balance of set plays and random and when to employ each. I fully expect him to be back to slicing apart defenses and winning games for us. I fully expect him to make sweet, sweet music.

This would have been much more fun to write about if the Celtics had won game 2, but I admit to getting a smirk on my face seeing that the Heat lost last night. The story lines just write themselves, don't they Sam Amick?

Danny Granger, Indiana Pacers beat LeBron James, Miami Heat - Sam Amick - SI.com

The chastising chatter that often surrounds LeBron James grew loud again Tuesday night, the questions about heart and poise and that game of hot potato that he sometimes likes to play late in games. It was mostly fair play, of course, not only because Miami fell 78-75 on its home floor in Game 2 against Indiana but also because they did so without the three-time MVP playing a role in the Heat's final two possessions.

Of course, as much as we like to dismiss Bosh as the 3rd wheel sidecar on this motorcycle, he's an All Star and and added weapon that teams have to account for when he's on the court.

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Apparently I'm completely to blame for the Celtics loss last night. You see, I jinxed them. These things are obviously real. So you better figure out what you were doing on Saturday and do that tomorrow. Then figure out what you were doing on Monday and definitely don't do that.

What did I do to jinx the team? Well, I wrote a quick post called Anatomy of a Sixers Collapse just hours before tipoff on Monday. Bad move Jeff, bad move.

For my penance and repenting, I now present to you the Bill Simmons special, ...the reverse jinx.

How did the Celtics lose? You know, other than the evil refs and a complete inability to put a orange ball through a metal hoop? Well, they did all the things that I thought a veteran team didn't do. For one thing, they let the Sixers take Kevin Garnett (the playoffs MVP thus far) out of the game.

Doc Rivers on WEEI: 'Maybe we weren't a smart team last night' -Celtics blog - Boston Globe basketball news

"Maybe we weren't a smart team last night or a well-coached team last night," said Rivers. "It was obviously the game plan to go there. We were in transition a lot and never really got into our sets. That happens in games ... they were trapping early, which made us want to move the ball. But not move away from Kevin, and I thought that's what we did. I thought we overreacted to their traps."

Then, our coach, whom I spent much time praising for his clock management (another jinx!) went out and fumbled the closing seconds away.

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I miss the Truth. If there's one guy that can break a 5 minute scoring drought, it is Paul Pierce. If there's one guy that can grab negative momentum and swing it back in the other direction, it is Paul Pierce. Complain about hero-ball all you want, but when you can't buy a bucket for all the leprechaun's gold, who do you turn to? Paul Pierce.

So when Paul Pierce isn't Paul Pierce, when he isn't The Truth, then what do you do?

BostonHerald.com - Blogs: Celtics Insider" Blog Archive " Celtics can’t overlook their task

"You know, I don’t think we have a big margin of error," said the coach. "We knew that coming into this whole playoff run with the bodies we have. We’ve got guys going in and out of games. Paul (Pierce) clearly is not 100 percent. We’re not going to run away from anybody."

Green Street " Elton Brand feels (and sees) Paul Pierce’s pain

"He’s not hurting himself by playing," said Rivers, "but he’s probably not healing either. In other words, while the knee isn’t getting any worse, it’s also not getting any better.

That's not exactly comforting. Hopefully Pierce has a little bit of magic left in him for the rest of the playoffs. And hopefully his teammates can pick up the slack some while he looks for that magic.

Sorry, I just watched the finale of Once Upon A Time and I'm just looking for a storybook ending here.