Paul Pierce was visibly affected by a sore thumb, shooting only 2-10 in the Celtics’ 114-105 loss to Denver.  His nagging injuries have gotten to the point that he may have to sit on Tuesday against the New York Knicks, according to Doc Rivers.

Via CSNNE:

There’s a chance that Pierce won’t play on Tuesday against the New York Knicks.

“The thumb, the (right) knee and the (left) foot, it may have caught up to him right now,” said Rivers, in reference to the many injuries Pierce has suffered this season. “So we may have to look at giving him some rest. On the surface, that’s the way it looks like it’s going.”

Despite his injuries, and his team’s loss, Pierce seemed to be happy with the Celtics’ direction as they return home to Boston for Tuesday night’s showdown.

“Our goal right now is to continue to play better,” Pierce said. “We made strides on this road trip. The key right now is to go home and play better. If we can get things going at home like we do on the road, we’ll be alright.”

If you told me the Celtics would win three out of four games on the road trip, I would have been happy.  But the way they lost — getting trounced out of the gates, briefly making a game out of it, then falling apart in the fourth quarter — was tough to stomach.

Still, the road trip was certainly a step in the right direction.