Celtics vs. Cavaliers: Paul Pierce Upset with Playing Time in Celtics Loss

Paul Pierce is understandably upset with the Boston Celtics and their inability to find an identity this season. He’s also angered that coach Doc Rivers has not played him much down the stretch of tough games.

The issues reached a head last night when the Cleveland Cavaliers were victorious over the Celtics in TD Garden, 88-87. Pierce was on the bench in the fourth quarter until the final 3:42.  He had to watch Kyrie Irving lead his team on a 12-0 run that erased the Celtics' 11-point lead.

According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston, the captain is publicly irritated. When asked about what the team needs to do to keep a fourth-quarter edge, Pierce said, "Maybe I should play a little bit more, I don't know."

But Pierce made sure to elaborate that he is upset about the loss much more than he is about the playing time:

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I'm more upset with losing, more so than not getting back in. Certainly I would have liked to have been in there to finish off the game, but the coaches make their decisions. At the time, you can understand when we have an [11-point] lead [with 4:25 to play] to rest the guys. So it's a double-edged sword.

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Boston could have gone above .500 for the first time since January 4, when it beat the lowly New Jersey Nets and had a 4-3 record. Instead, the Celtics blew what should have been the fifth game in their winning streak in heartbreaking fashion.

Coach Doc Rivers tried to explain how they lost:

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I think it’s difficult when you have kind of turned it off. [Cleveland is] going to make the effort plays, and I thought that’s what happened. We had Paul definitely get fouled, Ray [Allen] misses a layup. We had a lot of things that could have gone right. But to me, I always jokingly talk about the basketball gods. When you don’t take care of the game, things come back to haunt you. And I thought it did tonight.

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Pierce and the rest of the C’s will have a chance at redemption on Tuesday night, when they travel to Cleveland for a rematch.

It would be hard not to expect the entire squad to play with a chip on its shoulder, and no one should be giving greater effort than No. 34.

The frustrated captain should see more time in the fourth quarter and will need to prove to his coach that he was right to publicly question his decision-making after this latest loss.