Pierce plays waiting game

Decision time near on shutting down

By Christopher L. Gasper, Globe Staff  |  April 11, 2007

ATLANTA -- Not all men can wear lavender, but Paul Pierce pulled it off last night. The question is, will we see him in green again this season?

Pierce, nursing a sore left elbow, missed his sixth straight game last night, a 104-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in front of (ahem) 13,780 at Philips Arena, and coach Doc Rivers ruled him out for tonight's game at home against the 76ers as well.

Rivers said the time is nearing for a decision to be made on shutting Pierce down for the season. Pierce understands why Celtics fans want him to sit out and help the team solidify a top-two spot in the draft lottery -- Memphis locked up the No. 1 spot last night with a loss to Sacramento -- but he still wants to play.

"If you're looking at it from a draft perspective, maybe there is nothing to gain," said Pierce. "Probably got more to lose by playing than not, but I love the game of basketball."

Pierce could not give a timetable for when he would practice or play again.

"I've just been resting," he said. "Right now, the doctor just wants me to feel 100 percent sure. He said if I have any soreness to just wait it out. He wants me to get to the point where there is no soreness in the elbow before I think about playing, because as long as I keep playing, I'm just going to keep injuring it and it's going to be worse and worse."

Pierce also weighed in on the prospect of the Celtics offering Rivers a contract extension: "If this organization is serious about getting off to a good start and getting to the playoffs, I think that's good because when you get a whole new coach and whole new players, the tendency is to get off to slow starts because you've got to implement the [system], you got to get to know your players. There's a lot of things that come along with a new coach."

The Celtics got a career-high 33-point performance from Gerald Green last night, but it wasn't enough to avoid their fourth straight defeat. Green, who had 20 points in the first half, eclipsed his previous career high of 25 (set twice this season) with 4:55 left in the third. He had 29 after three quarters on 10-of-15 shooting. But his shooting touch -- and Boston's -- went MIA in the fourth. The Celtics shot just 6 of 19, Green just 2 of 7. "We were trying to get something out of Gerald as a go-to guy, just really featuring him," said Rivers. "He did some good things. I thought down the stretch of the game he settled for jumpers. The lesson we told him after the game was you get to the foul line, you don't just shoot jumpers." . . . Green was unimpressed with his big night. "I'm a still a ballplayer," he said, "and at the end of the day, I'm still trying to win ballgames. Even though I got a career high, we still lost the game. I should have had more for us to win the game." Atlanta, which shot 11 of 14 in the final quarter to finish at 60.3 percent overall, got 26 points and 10 assists from Tyronn Lue, who had 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Until Kevin Durant hires an agent, the Celtics are not commenting on him. But one current player, who asked not to be named, said Durant has nothing left to prove in college. "I think Durant is going to come to the NBA and have an impact because he is such a talented offensive guy," said the Celtic. "Every player has defensive things that they need to work on and get better at. I think as far as him scoring the ball, he's going to take guys away from the basket and do things we're not used to seeing except for by one or two other players such as Dirk [ Nowitzki]." However, the same player did say that Durant would have to bulk up to prepare to play NBA defense . . . Ryan Gomes, who injured his right (shooting) wrist and back against the Pacers Saturday, started and had 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting. Gomes didn't play in the fourth quarter. Rivers said he wanted to look at some other players in crunch time. "They've been working their butts off," said Rivers. "Obviously, we're not going to the playoffs, so play some other guys right now."

Rivers had nothing new on Delonte West (sprained left ankle) or Al Jefferson (bruised left knee). He doubted either would play tonight, but left the door open a crack for West, who was injured a week ago at Milwaukee . . . The Hawks were without forward Josh Smith, who was suspended two games without pay Monday following a profanity-laden tirade aimed at coach Mike Woodson during an overtime loss in Philadelphia Sunday . . . Former Celtic Joe Johnson, Atlanta's leading scorer, is shut down for the season with a right calf contusion.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.