Pierce: 'It's hard to be confident'

Celtics captain Paul Pierce connected on his first four 3-pointers but missed his next four as the Celtics went cold in the second and third quarters and lost to Memphis, 93-83, Wednesday night at TD Garden. It was Boston's fourth straight loss and dropped them a season-low three games under .500 at 14-17.

“It’s hard to be confident when you are struggling, lose four in a row and you find the type of mettle you have," Pierce said. "The good thing about it is where staying positive about this stretch. It’s a tough stretch for us obviously, and we know we are going to get through it.

“We sit in here and we talk about being positive, don’t get our heads down. We understand we feel you can always get the next one. It’s just like any confident person, when things don’t go your way you feel the next thing is going to go your way, and that’s how this team feels.”

Pierce finished with 17 points but just two in the second half as the Celtics shot just 45.1 percent from the field for the game. Pierce was 5-of-8 in the first half but just 1-for-6 in the second half. The Celtics got within five points, 83-78, but could get no closer down the stretch.

"We rushed shots," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We just started taking quick threes. We didn't play like a veteran team. We played like a really young team that was rushed. And that's what happens when you're not winning games, as well."

For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1].