Pierce at home

Julian Benbow chimes in with this update on Paul Pierce:

With his fiancée Julie Landrum expecting to be induced into labor, Pierce did not make the team flight to Charlotte this afternoon.

The Celtics left for Charlotte a little after 3 p.m., but Pierce and Landrum are waiting on the birth of their first child and team spokesman Jeff Twiss said, “He elected not to take the flight for obvious reasons.”

Missing the flight doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out for tomorrow, Twiss said. There’s the chance he could take a flight to Charlotte tomorrow in time for the 7 p.m. start.

But if he did choose to skip game, it would be the first game he’s missed all season. It would also mean a five-day vacation, with off days yesterday and today as well as Sunday and Monday.

The Celtics are a win (and a Detroit loss) away from clinching home court. Charlotte is 28-47 going into a road game tonight against Toronto.

“He could be out tomorrow he could not be out tomorrow,” Twiss said. “I guess we’ll know a little bit more as the day progresses.”