BOSTONThe Houston Rockets were making a fourth quarter surge on Friday, pushing the Boston Celtics to the brink of a collapse.
And then Paul Pierce came alive, looking as though he just checked into the game for the first time.
There was indeed a little more pep to his step down the stretch of Boston's 103-91 win over Houston, a byproduct of what a strong bench means to this team.
Boston's second unit played well enough for the starters to get some early rest which allowed those same starters to go on a 15-3 run that put the game away in the fourth quarter.
No Celtic seems to benefit more from this than Paul Pierce, who led all C's in scoring with 23 points.
In the second quarter Pierce played less than four minutes and when he returned to action later in the second, Boston's one-point lead at the start of the second had ballooned to 11 points by the time Pierce returned with 3:57 to play in the half.
"It's nice when he can sit that long and still do what he does," said C's coach Doc Rivers. "And you know he's going to be fresh down the stretch."
Boston Celtics
A big part of resting Pierce has to do with Jeff Green delivering solid play.
That was indeed the case on Friday as Green tallied nine points off the bench.
"Jeff has been playing so well, and the better Jeff plays, the better Paul will play too, because he will have more energy."
Said Pierce. "I think I'm playing like three or two minutes in the second quarter, saving my legs for the second half just in case we need a second half push," Pierce said. "If we continue to play this way, it's going to be great for us through the regular season."
Kevin Garnett also benefits from having less wear and tear on his body now.
"I'm not even concsious of that," Garnett said. I'm thinking more of what's needed. But they are giving us times where we can sit longer. and my routine is what it is. I can see the effects on paul when he comes in, he's a lot more fresh. By the time he plays his man, his man is damn near worn out from Courtney(Lee) and Avery (Bradley). Its a great balance which we have right now."