Changing of guard at dinner
Paul Pierce described his Saturday night dinner with Isaiah Thomas at the Back Bay restaurant Strip as a chance encounter.
But what followed was a passing of the torch of sorts, from one Celtics legend to another who certainly seems to be on the same path. A lot that Pierce told Thomas — about the love of the Boston crowd, about what it means to win here — the Celtics guard saw take shape yesterday at the Garden.
Pierce also showed a serious appreciation for what Thomas is now accomplishing.
“The city, championships, how good I’m playing right now, and when he first had that feeling when he figured it out,” Thomas said after the Celtics’ 107-102 win against Pierce’s Clippers. “And he said when I watch you play I can tell you figured it out. You’re not forcing anything. The game’s just coming to you and it looks very easy.
“We talked about a lot of topics. That was my first time sitting down and talking to him, so that was a real moment for me, to sit down and soak up all the game he was giving me. I’ll have that forever.”
Thomas later posted a picture of them on his Instagram account.
Said Pierce: “I’m proud of what he’s been able to do for this organization. This city will get behind you as long as you continue to work hard and compete at a high level and soak it all up. There’s no place like this place in the NBA. It’s kind of what we talked about. And I said, I told him, ‘Enjoy it. Enjoy every moment.’ ”
Asked whether he was passing a torch on to Thomas, Pierce added, “He’s taken it. He’s taken the torch, man. The city is proud of him for what he’s doing. You know, I keep up. I’ve been watching him. And especially where he’s come from, I mean, he’s been on like three or four different teams (three) and now he’s finally established his self as an NBA MVP candidate, All-Star. Just the route that he took: he wasn’t projected to really much in the NBA as a small guy, and so he’s taken a different route than a lot of us and he definitely could carry the torch in his time here.”
Start with the Truth
Before yesterday, Pierce hadn’t played a game since Dec. 31, but nothing was going to prevent Clippers coach Doc Rivers from putting his former Celtics star in the starting lineup on the date of Pierce’s last game in the Garden.
“I just think it was important for him,” Rivers said. “And, actually, it’s important for the team. I went to the team first and asked and they looked at me like: What a dumb question.
“But I thought it was the appropriate question for them. They wanted him to start, which I thought was great. Then I went to Paul and he was actually hesitant about it. He wasn’t sure if he should. Then he said, ‘OK.’ Then we made him practice yesterday, which is tough for him.”
Rivers thus ensured that Pierce would bring the house down during team introductions. But it didn’t even take that long.
When Pierce ran onto the floor for warm-ups, the crowd stood and cheered loudly as the 39-year-old forward stopped at the free throw line and waved.
And when Pierce was honored early in the first quarter, Celtics coach Brad Stevens got on his feet applauding with everyone else, including his players.
“He deserves that — not only revered among the people in New England, but in our building,” Stevens said. “From strength and conditioning to the trainers to people in the front office, to people who were around him. We only have one guy left who played with him in Avery Bradley.
“A lot of our team is like me, from the standpoint that we didn’t get a chance to play with him or coach him or be around him, but we were able to sense his impact just by the stories and what he was able to accomplish here.”
School of hard knocks
Jonas Jerebko was taken for tests on his nose, following a lategame collision with the shoulder of teammate Jaylen Brown.
“We’ll see if it’s broken,” Stevens said.
Jerebko has had a tough month in terms of contact. He required four stitches in his lip after absorbing a shot from Houston’s James Harden on Jan. 25. . . .
Bradley, still out with a sore Achilles, will travel with the team once the C’s leave tomorrow for a four-city western road trip.