Pierce: C's 'been about adversity all year'

In the wake of a shocking 98-79 loss to LeBron James and the Miami Heat, Paul Pierce sounded a philosophical tone about the prospects for Game 7 Saturday night in Miami.

“This team has been about adversity all year long," Pierce said. "So, this is not going to be [anything] new. It's been tough for us all year long to get to the point where we would be at, and why wouldn’t it be tough now? Winning is hard. Trying to get to the finals is hard. And this is as hard as it gets, and I think we are prepared for it.”

As clutch as Pierce was at the end of Game 5 in Miami, Pierce was ice cold all night in Game 6. He finished 4-for-18 from the field, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range. The Celtics captain scored just nine points in 31 minutes while James put up 45 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in 45 minutes to lead the Heat to a Game 7.

"He hit a lot of shots that he hasn't been hitting all series," Pierce said. "Sometimes superstars get hot. I've had that feeling before and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it."

For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1] and the Green Street [2] blog.