Pierce could use a little help

So what do we see the first time the Nets arrive in town? We see the ghost of Walker return in the form of Paul Pierce. The Celtics' captain, who now assuredly has an even bigger bull's-eye on his uniform with 'Toine in Dallas, hoisted 32 shots last night, 20 more than any teammate. The result was a Walkerian line of 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 8 turnovers.

Oh yes, and the Celtics lost, 94-87.

It was all Paul, almost all the time, and Pierce himself admitted that was not the way it's supposed to be.

"My decision-making is just not where it should be," he said. "At times, I have a shot and think pass too much, and that leads to turnovers. [He has 29 turnovers in five games.] There is a fine line between me being aggressive and shooting the ball and being unaggressive and passing the ball. I'm just making poor decisions right now."

Pierce owned up to not playing well lately; he seemed to also try to do too much in the second half Wednesday as the Pistons overcame a 10-point hole. In the final three minutes last night, when the score was tied, 84-84, Pierce had two turnovers on bad passes and a third when he simply lost the ball in a scrum at halfcourt. He bricked a long 3-pointer off a broken play. He did squirm loose for a layup. He took 11 shots in the quarter. Only one Celtic, Kedrick Brown, took that many all game.

That is not the kind of "passing game" the Celtics are trying to employ. That is exactly the kind of game they lapsed into all too often last season, making them unwatchable at times. That is the kind of play for which Pierce was trashed in the 2002 World Championships. Maybe it was unfair -- he was third on the team in assists -- but it's a rep that won't die.

Unless he, himself, kills it. The first thing he needs to do is put a flame to the tape of last night's game. Or maybe wait until he sees it one more time and says, "I did that?" Then he has to deal with his evolving role on an evolving team. He can't be everything.

"I think Paul feels a great deal of responsibility for our basketball team," said coach Jim O'Brien. "And he has to find his way . . . We've got to find a balance for him where all shots are real good shots."

O'Brien noted Pierce got frustrated last night. Well, he took 32 shots -- and even among the 12 he made were some awful tough, hand-in-the-kisser fallaways. The Nets gave him nothing.

"We have no choice but to pressure Paul," said New Jersey coach Byron Scott. "We want to make him do other things. If you get up into his face and force him to drive, sometimes he'll take bad shots. And sometimes we want to double him just to get the ball out of his hands."

Guess how many free throws Pierce took. Two. That in itself is a dead giveaway. Pierce led the league last year in free throw attempts and makes. He's averaging 5.6 attempts a game this year, well below last year's 9.5. But that was supposedly a sign the Celtics were not so utterly dependent on Pierce, that they were getting others involved. That can only happen when Pierce allows it to because he holds the rock more than anyone else.

"It's no different with Orlando and Tracy [McGrady] and Philly and [Allen Iverson]. Of course, you want to make other guys beat you," said the Nets' Richard Jefferson. "Paul doesn't have anything on his shoulders that he can't handle. Paul is one of the best in staying within himself. That's one of the reasons he's so tough. He hits the open guy. He makes the open jumper. He rarely forces the issue. That's what makes him such a great player."

Bingo. That is exactly what makes Pierce a great player. That is the Pierce we're used to seeing, not the Stepford Pierce who happened to inhabit uniform No. 34 last night.

More to the point, that is the player he has to be if the Celtics are going to do anything this season. That is, as the coach said, a heavy load. But it's a load Pierce can carry, just as long as he remembers that there's help along the way.