Missed foul shots haunt Pierce

According to Celtics' record keepers, Paul Pierce missed a career-worst nine free throws in a game against Miami in 2001. That statistic, however, offered little consolation after Pierce went 5-for-13 from the line last night in an 89-87 loss to the Wizards at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Particularly disturbing was the fact that Pierce went 2-of-6 in the fourth quarter. He missed six free throws in a row until he made two with 2:01 remaining. But he then missed two that could have propelled Boston to victory with 38.3 seconds left.

''I think it was just one of those nights," Pierce said. ''That's the first time I think I missed about eight free throws in my career. My momma always said, 'You're going to have days like that.' I've just got to swallow it. Brush it off and move on."

Coach Doc Rivers stood behind Pierce, regardless of what happened from the line last night.

''Paul missed free throws, but I'll put Paul on the line all night," Rivers said. ''He'll come through. He's going through a tough stretch right now, but I believe 100 percent in Paul Pierce. He's our best player. He goes to the line and has the ability to get fouled more than anybody on our team and that ain't going to change. He will make them. I have no doubt about that."

With Pierce setting the tone against the Wizards, though, the Celtics shot just 50 percent (11-for-22) from the line last night. That included Kendrick Perkins going 2-for-2, Al Jefferson 1-for-2, and Mark Blount 3-for-5.

''We're not a bad free-throw shooting team," Rivers said. ''We're just not a good free-throw shooting team down the stretch right now. All we're going to do is just keep working on them. It's all you can do."

Blount works late

The most surprising line last night belong to Blount. After being used somewhat sparingly in recent games, certainly not given quality minutes, Blount scored 11 points in 9 minutes off the bench last night -- all in the fourth quarter.

''Al [Jefferson] was struggling [defensively] and Perk was in foul trouble. That was why I went with him," Rivers said. ''And he responded. I told him about two minutes before he was going to go in that he was about to go in, and to get his mind ready. I thought he did that. He gave us another guy to go to down in the post."

Gomes back

After spending 10 games on the inactive list, Ryan Gomes put on his Celtics uniform last night for the first time since a Jan. 4 home game against the Bobcats, ending a stretch on the sidelines that lasted longer than the rookie thought it would. Justin Reed replaced Gomes on the inactive list, joining Dan Dickau (ruptured right Achilles') and Gerald Green. Gomes learned of the change after yesterday's shootaround, though he did not know what, if anything, Rivers was looking for from him. Gomes did not play against the Wizards, and Rivers said there was no elaborate reason behind the switch. ''It was nothing deep," Rivers said. . . . Pierce remains optimistic about his chances of playing for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics. ''I think I'm going to get a fair opportunity, just like a number of guys," Pierce said. ''It's a process they've got to go through right now. I've got to meet with [USA managing director Jerry Colangelo] face-to-face either All-Star weekend or when we got to Phoenix [Feb. 22] and just try to understand what they're trying to do with the process. I've always expressed my feelings about wanting to be on the USA team and I understand that there are a lot of great players out there. I would love to be part of it. I'll just leave it in their hands. [Colangelo] wants the guys that want to be there, who can represent the country. We don't want to have happen again what happened at the last Olympics [bronze medal in Athens]."