Celtics-Bobcats Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Mar 26 2012 1:17AM

In the larger part of two seasons, Avery Bradley's contributions to the Boston Celtics have been minimal.

Now, a pair of injuries may have him playing a key role in them gaining a share of the Atlantic Division lead.

Bradley looks to build on the best performance of his career and help the Celtics capitalize on a meeting with the NBA-worst Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

Bradley, the 19th overall pick in the 2010 draft, is averaging 4.8 points this season after posting 1.7 in 31 games off the bench as a rookie.

While the guard tends to be sparingly involved, Boston (26-22) is in need of some production with guards Ray Allen (sore left ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (head) out.

Bradley delivered in a big way Sunday, scoring a career-high 23 points while hitting 9 of 14 from the field to power an 88-76 win over Washington. His scoring output was one less than his total from the previous six games.

Playing 39:57 surely helped, but Bradley attributed the effort to confidence.

"It's all about confidence," Bradley said. "Sometimes I would go into the game thinking twice about shooting. Now, if I'm open, I'm open and I'll shoot it. I've been making them. I was fortunate enough for my teammates to find me in transition and give me the ball and I made shots."

With Allen and Pietrus likely out again, Bradley will be relied upon to help the Celtics pull even atop the division. They're one-half game behind Philadelphia and visit lowly Charlotte (7-39), which averages a league-worst 87.4 points per game.

Boston has won seven of the last nine meetings with the Bobcats, including a 94-84 home victory on Feb. 7 behind 22 points and seven rebounds from Kevin Garnett.

Garnett, however, wasn't as effective in the last visit to Charlotte, making 4 of 11 from the floor for nine points while grabbing 14 rebounds in a 94-89 loss on Feb. 7, 2011.

The forward-center had a similar effort Sunday, getting 10 points while making 3 of 10 field goals.

Paul Pierce is averaging 22.0 points and 8.7 boards over the last three games. He had that many points while adding six rebounds in the latest road meeting with the Bobcats after totaling 16 in the previous two.

Charlotte, 4-17 at home, is allowing an average of 106.3 points during a losing streak that reached three games with a 102-89 loss at New Jersey on Saturday. Acting coach Stephen Silas felt the Bobcats didn't get their up-tempo offense going until outscoring the Nets 31-21 in the fourth quarter.

"We have to play faster," he said. "We can't be a slow-down team."

Silas could also use some improvement from Kemba Walker, who missed 9 of 13 from the floor and all four from beyond the arc while finishing with 10 points Saturday. The rookie guard has struggled greatly over the last four home games, averaging 7.8 points while shooting 30.6 percent from the field.

Walker had 16 points and seven rebounds against the Celtics last month.

Pierce scores 36 as Celtics beat Bobcats 102-95

By STEVE REED
Posted Mar 26 2012 11:17PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Paul Pierce has put the Boston Celtics on his shoulders and carried them through some tough times - all the way into a tie for first place.

With the Celtics battling a series of injuries and playing without Ray Allen, Pierce has been on a scoring tear.

And he didn't let up Monday night.

Pierce scored a season-high 36 points and the Celtics held on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 102-95 to move into a share of the Atlantic Division lead with the Philadelphia 76ers. Both teams are 27-22 with 17 regular-season games remaining, although the 76ers own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Pierce said taking on a bigger burden of scoring doesn't bother him at all.

"I think I've been feeling that way for the past couple of weeks now as far as needing to be more aggressive when I have the opportunities within the flow of the offense," Pierce said.

Pierce shot 10 of 20 from the field, made 15 of 18 free throws and added 10 rebounds and four assists. He has scored 20 or more points in five of the past six games and is averaging 22.4 points during March.

"I wanted to be aggressive and just saw lanes tonight and I just wanted to mix it up between driving to the hole and hitting jump shots," Pierce said. "My teammates set me up with a lot of down screens and pick-and-rolls that enabled me to get into the lane."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Pierce played in "attack mode" right from the opening tip. Pierce had 17 points in the first half.

"We like to post him up a little more than we were doing," Rivers said.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points for the Celtics.

Rivers said he didn't mention to his team about moving into a tie for first place.

"For us we have to keep plugging along and keep playing," Rivers said. "It is important, but we've still got some games left. Since the All-Star break we haven't played well every night but we're winning some of the games where we don't play well."

Gerald Henderson had 21 points for the Bobcats (7-40), who have lost six of their past seven and remain the only team in the NBA with fewer than 10 wins.

Charlotte's bench outscored the Celtics 59-9, led by 18 points from Byron Mullens and 16 from Derrick Brown.

Despite the loss, Bobcats coach Paul Silas was pleased with his team's play.

"We competed and this is the way it's going to be from here on out," Silas said. "I told our guys prior to the game that we have to run, we have to push the ball up and we have to finish - and we did. We had lob passes that we hadn't had before and this is the way we're going to play. We're going to give ourselves a chance to win."

Boston seemed poised to put this one away early.

With the game tied at 13, the Celtics went on a 14-0 run with Pierce, Garnett and Rajon Rondo combining for 12 points - most of those coming inside the paint.

They stretched the lead to 33-15 by the end of the first quarter, taking advantage of the Bobcats' inability to score. Charlotte shot 29 percent from the field and didn't hit a field goal in the final 6:47 of the first quarter.

But Charlotte showed some fight, pulling to 52-50 at halftime as Mullens and Reggie Williams began to heat up from the outside. The Bobcats shot 65 percent in the second quarter and scored 35 points to get back in the game.

"They got back in the game because of their bench," Pierce said. "They came in and played with a lot of energy. I don't know that we were expecting that much from their bench."

Rivers wasn't happy about the second quarter, although he didn't blast his team at halftime.

"I didn't feel like I had to address it," Rivers said. "If we're a quote-unquote defensive team then we have to be better than that."

Boston led by as many as 12 in the second half but the Bobcats stayed close, closing the gap to four down the stretch.

However, Pierce scored on a pretty crosscourt feed from Rondo and Garnett knocked down a jumper from the top of the key to seal the victory.

NOTES: Silas picked up a technical foul during the first quarter, giving him seven on the season - one behind Rivers, the league leader. ... Brown handed out a career-high seven assists for the Bobcats. ... Rondo finished with 13 assists, marking the 25th time this season he's had double digits.

Notebook: Celtics 102, Bobcats 95

Posted Monday March 26, 2012 10:47PM

By Derek Smith, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Paul Pierce scored 36 and added 10 rebounds to lift the Boston Celtics to a 102-95 win over the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The win gave the Celtics a share of the Atlantic Division lead while the Bobcats dropped their fourth straight. Gerald Henderson led Charlotte with 21 points.

QUOTABLE: "I thought we came out and made a concerted effort to get the ball inside. We kept the ball moving and stayed aggressive out there. We took out time and tried to get to the free throw line. I just tired to be more aggressive than usual (with Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus out) whether it was at the line or taking more shots."
-- Pierce.

THE STAT: Clutch free throws. Pierce made 18 trips to the foul line Monday including seven trips in the fourth quarter. His 15 makes and 18 attempts were both season highs. As a team, Boston was 8-for-11 in the fourth quarter and also set season highs with 34 makes and 45 attempts.

TURNING POINT: Boston came out of the half and quickly wrestled control from Charlotte. The Celtics went on a 13-4 run over the first three minutes led by Pierce and Avery Bradley. Brandon Bass capped the run at the 9:05 mark with a 12-foot jumper and while Charlotte made some runs the Celtics lead was never in doubt.

QUOTABLE II: "He was in attack mode tonight and we really needed that. "
-- Boston head coach Doc Rivers on Pierce's performance Monday night.

HOT: Pierce was a man of determination Monday. The Boston forward netted a season-best 36 points and added 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the year. Pierce also had four assists, three steals and three blocks. He's averaging 25.5 points and 9.0 rebounds over his last four games

NOT: D.J. Augustin. The Charlotte starting point guard was held to only two points, one assist and no made field goals against Boston Monday night. Augustin has not scored in double figures in the previous four games and his 4.3 points per game over that stretch is well below his season average of 11.6 point per game

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Bradley. The Boston guard has scored 11 points a night after torching Washington for a career-best 23 points. Bradley, who has started in place of the injured Ray Allen, is averaging 17.0 points since being inserted in the lineup. Allen is expected to be back in action on Wednesday for the Celtics, but with the continued absence of Mickael Pietrus due to a concussion quality minutes for Bradley should still be available.

NOTABLE: Bobcats head coach Paul Silas gets his seventh technical foul of season. He's one behind Boston's Rivers for most among NBA coaches ... The Bobcats bench came to play Monday night. They outscored the Celtics bench 61-9 and had two double digit scorers in Byron Mullens (18) and Derrick Brown (16) ... Henderson topped the 20-point mark for the third time in the last five games ... Brown handed out a career-high seven assists ... Pierce passed Dominique Wilkins on the NBA career free throw list. He now has 6,034 and is just one free throw away from tying David Robinson for 15th all-time ... Kevin Garnett scored 20-plus points for the 12th time this season ... Rajon Rondo recorded double figure assists for the 25th time this season.

UP NEXT: For the Celtics, Wednesday vs. Utah, Friday @ Minnesota, Sunday vs. Miami. For the Bobcats, Wednesday vs. Minnesota, Friday vs. Denver, Saturday @ Detroit.

• Celtics: O'Neal, Pietrus
• Bobcats: Najera

• Celtics: Stiemsma
• Bobcats: Silas

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #79 Kevin Scott, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 16357
• Duration: 2:30