Stern puts fine points on Pierce case

CLEVELAND - During an interview with NBA officials, Paul Pierce denied making a gang sign during a first-round game in Atlanta, but the league still felt he warranted a fine for a "menacing" hand gesture.

NBA commissioner David Stern spoke with the media before Game 4 between the Celtics and Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena last night and addressed numerous topics, including Pierce's $25,000 fine.

Stern said part of the issue was Pierce being near the Hawks bench when he made the gesture.

"We said he was menacing, and I just said in the sort of totality of what he was doing to the wrong bench, telling us that he was really over there saying, 'Peace and love,' with his hand signs, we didn't buy it," Stern said. "We said, 'You shouldn't have been there.'

"We fined him and we moved on. If we were wrong, it wouldn't be the first time."

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has described Pierce's gesture as meaning "blood, sweat, and tears."

Pierce said Sunday he believes the NBA had a double standard regarding how it dealt with him as opposed to others who have made hand gestures.

Garnett a first-teamer

Kevin Garnett was named to the All-NBA Defensive first team, the first Celtic to be so honored since Kevin McHale in 1988. Garnett, this season's Defensive Player of the Year, was joined by Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, Spurs guard Bruce Bowen and forward Tim Duncan, and Denver center Marcus Camby.

Garnett tied Bryant for most first-place votes (24) and total points (52).

"That would have been an upset if he hadn't made it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Voting was done by the 30 head coaches, who were asked to select both teams by position but couldn't vote for their own players; 2 points were awarded for a first-team vote, 1 for a second-team vote.

Rajon Rondo received 11 total points and three first-team votes, while Pierce received 2 total points.

"You just got to bring it every night," Rondo said. "It's cool to get some votes, that people recognize me. But I got to be consistent every night. I don't think I deserve to be on the team yet."

Said Pierce, "I don't know if people around the league really know yet [what I do defensively]. It seems like the same guys make it every year."

Silver lining

Rivers praised reserve center P.J. Brown, who tallied 8 points on 4-for-4 shooting, to go with 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. "He's been terrific," Rivers said. "If we had a bright spot, he was it tonight. Blocking shots, he made those elbow shots, the corner shots, he spread the floor. It allows us to have two 7-footers on the floor at the same time. He's been terrific and that's what we need." . . . Asked by a Cleveland reporter about LeBron James's shooting struggles in the series (20 of 78, 25.6 percent), Rivers was incredulous. "You think LeBron is struggling? He had 21 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds. He probably forced 15 fouls. We don't look at that as LeBron struggling. You only look at field goal percentage, we don't. We look at the way he's playing his total game and he's making his plays." . . . James was a tad embarrassed - not to mention annoyed - by his mother's conduct when Pierce grabbed him to prevent a breakaway and rode him out of bounds on the baseline near Gloria James's seats with 4:13 left in the half. As the bodies were being untangled, Gloria James left her seat and berated Pierce, wagging her finger at him. LeBron interceded. "I told her to sit down in language I should not have used," he said. "I just cannot afford to have my mother, my kids, or anyone get involved with the players. I can't have it. Good thing it wasn't Mother's Day. But we're good. We're fine."

Let's play two

Rivers realized he had been in this town for a while when he saw two baseball teams (the Blue Jays and Athletics) check into the hotel during his stay. NBA teams are usually in and out of cities within two days during the regular season. But in this postseason, the Celtics spent five days in Atlanta in the first round and five days in Cleveland in the second round. "We feel like baseball players," Rivers said. "That's what they do in every series. We've seen two teams come in since we've been here, Toronto is still here and I think Oakland checked in this morning. It's amazing. But that's their life. It's not our life. It's unusual for us." . . . Rivers said his son, Jeremiah, should decide in a week or two where he will transfer to play college basketball, having opted out of Georgetown after two years.

Commish comments

Stern on pyrotechnics before games: "I'm going to get in trouble for this, OK? I think they're ridiculous. I think that the noise, the fire, the smoke, is a kind of assault that we should seriously consider reviewing in whether it's really necessary, given the quality of our game." Asked what type of music he'd like to hear at games, Stern said: "How do you spell Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, or Billy Joel? I'm lost. But that's OK. I appreciate there's New Age music, hip-hop. It's fine, but the reality is I think what's happened is some very well-intentioned people feel it's their obligation to root their team on to victory, to urge them, and they do it by turning up the loudspeaker in the building, even though there are babies in the building."

Michael Vega of the Globe staff contributed to this report