Paul Pierce liked his shot — approximately 15 feet away to the right of the foul line, with just enough room to step back and get a clean shot over Tim Duncan, whom the Celtics [team stats] captain had drawn on a switch during the last possession of the game.
Pierce has hit this shot over countless opponents. And like the one last night, a decent amount have bounced wide.
Thus ended the Celtics' five-game winning streak. Last night's 87-86 loss to the Spurs dropped the C's to 30-23, including 16-6 since the All-Star break.
But perhaps the most important development was Philadelphia's 99-78 loss to visiting Toronto, which enabled the Celtics to maintain their 11⁄2-game Atlantic Division lead.
Maybe the next one will go in.
"We were trying to get Duncan on Paul because we thought we had the speed advantage," said Doc Rivers. "We wanted him to go a little quicker because I thought he could've beat (Duncan) off the dribble. He would've reached the foul line, and Paul has a knack for getting the ball up.
"But his step-back is what he wants," said the Celtics coach. "I just thought we waited a little too late in the clock."
When Pierce puts the ball to the floor, though — in last night's case after taking an inbounds pass from Rajon Rondo [stats] with 7.9 seconds left — the creative shot process has no set time.
"This type of stuff is not really scripted," said Pierce, who finished with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. "You don't have an idea of what's going to happen in those situations. You get into those pressure situations and sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.
"But I'm not going to second guess my decision," he said. "I thought I got a great shot, and created some space right there at the free throw line. Some days they fall, and some days they don't."
Last night, the Celtics simply had one final tease in their pocket. Ray Allen, back after a six-game ankle-induced absence, hit only his second shot of the game from one of his signature spots — the right corner.
The 3-pointer with 39.8 seconds left cut the Spurs lead to a point. It was only Allen's second basket of the night, and an apparent momentum-builder when Danny Green, a thorn last night, missed an 18-footer down the other end.
But the Celtics were about to pay for some truly slovenly first-half defense. Though they responded superbly, holding the Spurs to nine points in the third quarter, 19 in the fourth and 40-percent shooting in the second half, the effort fell short.
"Second chance points hurt us, fighting for 50/50 balls — they got those," said Kevin Garnett. "They're a tough team. That's why they're second in the west."
The Celtics even led twice in the fourth quarter — 81-79 with 3:46 left when Avery Bradley capped an 11-2 run with a cut off a Rajon Rondo feed; and 83-81 with three minutes left on Brandon Bass' tip-in of a Bradley miss.
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