It's the same old story regarding Pierce

SALT LAKE CITY -- When Paul Pierce returned shortly before the All-Star break, the Celtics did not see him as a savior. He would help, but he would not magically turn around a hopeless season.

In a best-case scenario, the young players who improved in his absence would be better, more effective complementary pieces. After last night's 105-87 loss to the Utah Jazz, the Celtics are 1- 6 since the captain returned. They have learned that playing with Pierce may be as difficult as playing without him.

If his first seven games back from injury and illness are any indication, Pierce will be asked to carry the team much as he did before missing 24 games.

If his recent comments are any indication, he would prefer a veteran over a player selected in the draft.

But even with the Celtics playing hard and Pierce averaging 22.5 points since his return, the Celtics seem destined to revert to form, as the younger players defer to Pierce on the court.

"They're going to have to get over that hump," said Pierce, who had 19 points in 36 minutes last night. "I came into the league as a rookie playing with Antoine Walker, Kenny Anderson, established guys. I found a way of making adjustments to where I could fit in. That's what these guys are going to have to try and do.

"I'm going to be myself. I'm going to play the way I can play and these guys are going to have to figure it out."

Al Jefferson may be the exception. With Pierce still working his way back into shape and devoting his energy to scoring, Jefferson remains assertive on the glass. He is averaging 12.3 rebounds a game with Pierce back in the mix. Still, Jefferson, who had 13 boards last night, sees a need for Pierce now more than ever.

"I always appreciated Paul, but I never realized how important Paul is to this team until he was hurt and it was hard for us to win," said Jefferson. "It's his presence, his leadership, his confidence, his everything. He's been through this before. It's all that in one.

"He knows that we're tired of losing, but we look at him to pick us up, to be that leader."

Coach Doc Rivers didn't waste time making good on his promise to play Leon Powe "a lot more," starting the rookie last night in place of Ryan Gomes. But Powe fell into early foul trouble. He finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes.

"I'm going to play Leon a lot more because the one thing Leon does every night is he instigates," said Rivers. "He's physical. I'm going to put him on the floor and I could care less about the other stuff he doesn't do. [Lamar ] Odom wanted to fight him [playing the LA Lakers Friday night]. [Ronny] Turiaf wanted to fight him That's great. It's about time someone made the other team angry. Hell, they're happy usually when they leave us."

Even before Powe proved himself in the Lakers game with his aggressiveness and intensity, he had made the most of his limited playing time this season, averaging 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.9 minutes. He grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds against Toronto Jan. 12. Perhaps most impressively, he finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds in less than three minutes at Golden State Dec. 29. Powe is just happy to have more opportunity on the court.

"That's why I keep working hard," said Powe. "I stay in the gym and play my game -- that's be physical, rebound, try to draw some fouls on people."

Utah's Mehmet Okur (back spasms) and Andrei Kirilenko (bruised left knee) did not play last night . . . Rivers was relatively pleased with the way Gerald Green defended Kobe Bryant Friday. "Gerald kept playing," said Rivers. "I loved what he was trying to do. I thought he was the only one who competed to guard Kobe." When told of the compliments, Green credited his teammates and basic defensive principles. "That's a hard task," said Green. "I just tried to stay in front of him, tried to contest all his shots, and tried to defend him the best I could." . . . Reaction to Dennis Johnson's death keeps coming from the Celtics. Brian Scalabrine had the good fortune of meeting Johnson when he was coaching with the Clippers. "He told me to always be true to the game, to play the game the right way and the way you know how and you'll be all right," Scalabrine said. "It meant a lot to me because I was just a college kid at the time and I was trying to absorb as much as I could."