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Pierce bruises right knee

Print | Comments () Posted by Julian Benbow, Globe Staff January 28, 2011 02:10 AM

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- After Paul Pierce rushed off the floor late in the fourth quarter of the Celtics 88-78 win over the Trail Blazers tending to a right knee bruise.

He first felt the pain in the third quarter but played nearly seven minutes in the fourth quarter, before leaving the game with 2:01 left.

"It just felt a little sore there in the fourth," Pierce said. "I think it’s just a knee bruise. It just sort of wore on me as the game went on. It’s just stuff that happens throughout the course of a game – banging knees, turning ankles. That’s all it was."

Though he assumed it was simply a matter of Pierce knocking knees with a Blazers' defender, Rivers was cautious.

"I'm hoping it's nothing else more than that," Rivers said.

Pierce left the locker room without any visible limp or noticeable effects besides swelling. He said he would wait for it to go down and see how it feels before the Phoenix game.

"Hopefully it doesn’t swell up too much," Pierce said. "It swelled up a little bit, but not too bad. Hopefully, it’ll be all right for tomorrow."