Let’s pause for a moment to consider Paul Pierce. In his 14th season, Pierce has averaged 19.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. His shooting percentages are down a bit, but across the board it has been another typically excellent Pierce season.

That doesn’t come as much of a shock. On a team that thrives on consistency and repetition, Pierce is as steady as anyone. What has been a surprise are his peaks and valleys this season.

After he returned from a heel injury early in the season, his first 10 games or so were forgettable. His next 10 may have saved the Celtics’ season when he took over the primary scoring and ballhandling duties while Rajon Rondo recovered from a wrist injury. Then he hit another valley in February, shooting less than 40 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range.

Since the All-Star break, however, Pierce has been arguably their best player and that includes Kevin Garnett’s revival and Rondo’s assist-binge. While those two have received justified attention for the Celtics’ resurgence, Pierce averaged better than 22 points a game in March on his way to winning Eastern Conference Player of the Month, and he’s maintained that level throughout April.

One night after scoring 43 points – the first time any Celtic has topped 40 points in the regular season during the Big Three era – Pierce went for 29 points (on just 14 shots) and a career-high 14 assists in a 102-98 win over the Magic.

“That’s called, a good basketball player,” Doc Rivers said.

It was an important victory for the Celtics who clinched the Atlantic Division and also kept pace with the Hawks in the race for homecourt advantage in the first round. Atlanta is up a game in the loss column and their game on Friday will go a long way toward determining who will get to host Game 1 in what is looking more and more like a first round matchup.

The Celtics care about getting homecourt, but only to a point. Rivers sat Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus and is likely to do so again on Friday. That left it to Pierce, Garnett and what remains of the roster to piece together games like they did on Wednesday. Sasha Pavlovic started at guard. Keyon Dooling played 23 minutes and forgotten men like E’Twaun Moore and Marquis Daniels found themselves back in the rotation.

Pierce reprised his point-forward role without Rondo and had eight assists by the end of a first quarter in which they shot 74 percent. He had a double-double by halftime and then scored 16 points in the second half, including his patented end of game play when he buried an isolation jumper at the top of the key that put the Celtics up four with 7.6 seconds left.

“Truth was classic at the end and we marched out of here with a win,” Garnett said.

“I just took what was given to me,” Pierce said. “Just try to be aggressive all the time offensively, look for my shot, when the pass is there. Tonight I just had the opportunity to handle the ball a little bit more, usually that’s Rondo’s duty. Tonight it was in my hands, I just got to do a lot of playmaking.”

Pierce did his usual number offensively. He took only two 3-pointers and did most of his damage from the mid-range and at the free throw line where he made 11-of-12 attempts. He had the kind of game that makes you look up at the box score repeatedly because you know he’s having a good night, but you’re not sure how good until you see all the numbers for proof.

“He just does his job,” Rivers said. “Paul is not flashy. I don’t even know how Paul scores sometimes. He doesn’t look like he’s that quick, but he is. He’s got a gift. He’s a professional scorer.”

The funny thing about Pierce’s performance was that Rivers wasn’t even sure if his captain was going to be available to play. Pierce took a knee to the thigh late in Tuesday’s game against the Knicks and with that on top of all the other bumps and bruises he’s accumulated over the year, Rivers didn’t want to take any chances. But Pierce didn’t respond to trainer Eddie Lacerte’s texts and in Celtics-land that usually means all is well. 

“I knew when I got up this morning that I was going to play,” Pierce said. “You know this is an important game for us trying to wrap up the Atlantic Division. Ray’s out. Mickael Pietrus was out and I was going to do everything in my power to try and be ready for tonight.”

That was fortunate because without three of their top guards, Pierce was desperately needed.

“I just wanted him to play,” Rivers said. “He distributes when Rondo is not there. He has the ability to do that. Very few people can do that.”

Pierce had the game under control from the beginning. While Avery Bradley was the nominal point guard, it was Pierce who ran the offense. When the game needed his passing, he passed. When it needed his scoring, he scored.

“From being his teammate for a while, he has a good feel on when to distribute and consolidate the ball and then he has a good feel – I’m not going to say flip the switch – but be a lot more aggressive,” Garnett said. “What I love about him right now is he’s helping rebounding, defensively he’s active and he’s talking. That’s what you want from your leader.”

The Celtics don’t win that game without Pierce and there’s no way they win the Atlantic Division without his second-half surge.

“I’m not about to go pop some champagne bottles or anything like that,” Pierce said. “I mean, it’s a good accomplishment. The guys should recognize where we come from to what we are today. But all we care about here is a championship banner.” 

Somewhat improbably, the Celtics may yet have something to say about who hoists a championship banner at the end of the season. At this point it’s fair to say that they have more than a puncher’s chance and who knows what will happen in this chaotic season?

“Never count us out,” Garnett said. “You guys called us old. Over. I read some of your pathetic articles, some of your lousy analysis. It’s opinion and obviously you don’t know what drives us. We thank you for all those articles because it lit a fire under us.”

Hey, whatever works, but the Celtics have put themselves back in contention because of a number of factors. From Rondo’s mastery, to Garnett’s position change to Avery Bradley’s emergence, several things have gone just right over the second half of the season. At the end of the day, however, there is Pierce with the ball in his hands.