Bothered by a thumb injury he suffered last week in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul Pierce made his impact on defense this weekend.

Paul blocked four shots, snared two steals and grabbed three defensive rebounds in a 114-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. On Friday he recorded a steal and nine points in the Celts 96-76 blowout of Portland:But he said the nagging injury to his shooting hand has limited him.

"It's sore right now," Pierce said. "It's affecting my shot a lot. Right now, I'm not really looking to be aggressive with it. I'm just trying to do the other little things to help this ball club and hopefully in the next few days it'll get better."

Despite the nagging injury, The Captain still made his presence obvious in the game but through his defense, as Celticshub.com reported:

"Pierce's defensive prowess is illustrated best in his having a season high in blocked shots (4). These weren't resounding blocks that sent fans to their feet and caused commentators to make frivolous Lebron, Howard, and Mutombo comparisons. These were blocks made by possible by years of study and a true mastering of the art of anticipation."

Teammate Kevin Garnett said that though Paul's offense is affected by his injury, his defense is important enough to offset the struggles:

"As long as Paul's active on defense, it doesn't really [matter]," Garnett said. "We've got guys like ‘Quis and, obviously, there's the lineup with TA coming in. Offensively, Paul's our guy. He hits the big shots for us. He draws all the attention. He makes plays. We need him to be healthy. But everybody's banged up right now, and, hopefully, we'll get through this."

Marquis Daniels (15 points against Denver on Sunday) and Tony Allen (seven points against Portland on Friday) can pick up a little bit of the slack at the offensive end while Pierce waits for his thumb to heal.

OFFENSIVE OW
Due to the injury, the Captain has struggled with the ability to shoot properly.

He averaged seven points per game over the weekend and said it's his grip on the ball that is most affected by the pain, as the Boston Globe reported:

It was the second game Pierce played with the injury, and it affected the way he caught the ball, gripped it, dribbled it, and passed and shot it.

"That's everything you do with a basketball," Pierce said, running down the checklist.

He told ESPN.com that just the simplest injury can change everything for a shooter:

"You go by feel," Pierce said. "I tried to play off instincts, and my instincts are to shoot the ball. But it's not the same shot."

Despite the bothersome injury, No. 34 tried to play through the pain as he played in 31 minutes of action in Denver and 26 against Portland.

SIT OR START?
With the injury affecting his game, it's questionable whether No. 34 will in the line-up for Boston's next game, the Celts could choose to rest Paul to get him ready for the stretch run and inevitably the playoffs:

"Pierce likely will sit down with his coach on Monday or Tuesday to have a frank discussion about whether it makes sense to have him in the lineup on Tuesday against the New York Knicks or on Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"You can see it on free throws," Coach Doc Rivers said. "The thumb, the knee and the foot, it may have caught up to him right now. We may have to look at getting him some rest. On the surface, that's the way it looks like it's going."

But Paul wanted to make it clear that other than this thumb, he remained in good health:

"The knee is actually doing good," he said. "My foot is actually doing good."

With the possibility that he might sit out, the Captain's teammates stressed the importance of having No. 34 on the court ESPN.com:

"We just have to move the ball around," Allen said. "We have to find the best option, try and figure out what it is or who it is that might have something going."

"He's still a guy that we go to," Rondo said. "We're still going to continue to look for Paul. He just struggled tonight. It's going to happen."

NEXT UP
Paul and the C's return home to host the New York Knicks on Tuesday. The game is scheduld to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. EST and can been on CSNHD.

RELATED STORIES
Paul Pierce: Thumb affecting shooting (ESPN.com, Feb. 22, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=4934632
Injuries take toll on Pierce (Boston Globe, Feb. 22, 2010)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/02/22/injuries_take_toll_on_pierce/
Celtics end road trip with loss (ESPN.com, Feb. 22, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=4934603
Celtics Lose: Pierce's Jekyll and Hyde Impression (Celticshub.com, Feb. 21, 2010)
http://celticshub.com/2010/02/21/celtics-lose-pierces-jekyll-and-hyde-impression/

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