Pierce fined for gesture

NBA says action was 'menacing'

ATLANTA - Paul Pierce had the Hawks and a hand gesture to worry about last night.

Pierce was fined $25,000 by the NBA yesterday for making what the league deemed a "menacing gesture" (watch it on YouTube) in Saturday night's Game 3 loss to the Hawks.

The incident occurred during a timeout with 22.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter as Pierce walked near the Atlanta bench. He made the hand signal before being pulled away by teammate Brian Scalabrine.

There was speculation Pierce was making a "blood" gang sign; he did not comment before last night's Game 4. Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge and coach Doc Rivers said the team will address the issue at season's end.

"I'm not going to comment on it," Ainge said. "I'll comment on it when the season is over and we'll take care of business when the season is over."

According to Ainge, Pierce found out about the fine at about 6 p.m., and Ainge wishes it had been sooner so his game preparation wouldn't have been affected. Ainge had a lengthy discussion with NBA commissioner David Stern in the press room before the game.

Asked about the penalty, Stern said, "I would say that the league is sending a message to one of the best players in the world to play the game."

Ainge said the fine can be appealed but that, too, was business for the end of the season.

Ainge also pointed out that Pierce makes the signal with both hands during pregame introductions to signify "blood, sweat, and tears."

"Every game what does he do?" Ainge said. "He does like, 'Blood, sweat, and tears.' That's kind of his sign. Blood, sweat, and tears. That's what he does every game. That's what he does every single game during introductions."

Pierce made the gestures before Game 4 last night, too.

Scott's honor?

According to Associated Press reports, Byron Scott of the Hornets is expected to be named Coach of the Year today after leading his team to the second-best record in the Western Conference. Rivers, who led the Celtics to a league-best 66 wins, said, "I agree with the vote, with everything he has done down there." . . . Rajon Rondo finished fifth in voting for Most Improved Player, which was won by Orlando forward Hedo Turkoglu. Rondo averaged 6.4 points, 3.7 boards, 3.8 assists, and 1.64 steals in 23.5 minutes per game as a rookie last year; this season, he improved to 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.68 steals in 29.9 minutes and also played on the Sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge.

Times were tough

Rivers said he considered taking the Celtics off the floor in Game 3 when a malfunction kept both teams from having a shot clock and a game clock above their baskets for about 17 minutes in the second half.

Rivers also said that Hawks officials, who used a stopwatch for the shot clock and announced the last five seconds, seemed to be giving more than the allotted time to Atlanta while giving the Celtics less. Rivers was bothered by the fact that there weren't backup shot clocks available.

"I didn't want to play," Rivers said. "I didn't want to trust some guy who does the announcing for the Hawks to call out the five seconds. That makes no sense to me. I wasn't born yesterday. Come on.

"It sounded like a quick [count]. Absolutely, I noticed that. That should not have happened."

Ainge said he, too, was frustrated with the clock situation - he called it "ridiculous" - but added that it was a tough situation for everyone.

"I contemplated whether it was something we should play with or not," Ainge said. "But both teams are playing without a shot clock and, obviously, the coaches and players wanted to play."

There was a questionable 24-second violation called on the Celtics in the third quarter, when the announcer said, "3 seconds," as the ball went out of bounds.

Rivers said the fact that ESPN had a game after Boston-Atlanta added pressure to keep it going.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson wasn't surprised that the Celtics were bothered by that malfunction but added that both teams dealt with the same problem.

"We were both called to halfcourt," Woodson said. "We both were told the circumstances of the clock. We agreed to go ahead and play. It's what it was. We had to play under the same conditions. I didn't like it either in terms of listening to the announcers count it down.

"I know he was probably talking about the one play where he got the 24-second call. It was close. I didn't look at it very closely when we watched tape, but I know the ball was going out of bounds. So, they just ruled it 24-second violation.

"It's tough playing under those circumstances, but hey, we agreed to do it. But we both had to live with it."

Show of support

At shootaround, Hawks forward Josh Smith wore a T-shirt featuring Barack Obama that said, "Obama For Change. This Time I Want a Smart President." Asked about the T-shirt, Smith said, "Obama, man. I voted for him. I'm just representing." Teammate Josh Childress said he has met Obama a few times and also attended an Obama fund-raiser hosted by Suns forward Grant Hill in Washington last year. "I've never been a political person," said Childress. "But seeing the type of person he is and how down-to-earth he was, it really just made me follow him and support him as much as I could. The beauty of having a new face in this presidential race is that you're bringing in a whole new generation of people that have never really been into [it]. I couldn't tell you the past 15 years who was running. But now I can tell you the stance on different things. I think it's a great time for our nation."