Though his forehead made contact with James Jones’ cheek, Paul Pierce will avoid any further punishment after being ejected from Game 1. Boston fans can now breathe a sigh of relief, even if a suspension never seemed likely.

Earlier today, Pierce spoke about the need to keep his cool. Sure, refs will make some bad calls. And maybe Miami’s fouls were a little bush. Pierce still needs to refrain from reaction. (WEEI)

“I probably overreacted,” Pierce said. “Thought I was fouled excessively on both play. I thought it should have been a flagrant on both plays. But it’s up to me to keep my composure. The referees called what they saw. I need to do a better job keeping my composure. That’s it.”

Doc Rivers agreed with Pierce, noting that his team didn’t handle Miami’s aggression well. (Boston Globe)

“We’re just built like we are,” said Rivers. “I don’t even know if anybody’s physical these days, to be honest. We play the way we play. We don’t apologize for that. I just think we didn’t do a very good job of that last night.

“I think both teams will compete extremely hard, and at times we will accidentally run into each other. I don’t think it’s going to get out of hand or anything like that. Miami wanted to show us that they’re physical. That’s cool with us. We just wanted to play the way we play. I honestly don’t know if that’s physical or not. That’s for everybody else to say. We’re going to play our style, and somebody’s style’s going to win. That will be what’s determined at the end of the game.” …

“Miami won the first game and now we’re in Game 2,” said Rivers. “Each game is an individual game. It doesn’t matter, the fact that they’re at home. The way I look at it, any time you play you should win. They held serve and all that good stuff, but I don’t believe in that.”

On another note, if you’re interested, Shaq’s possible Game 2 return depends on how his body handles today’s practice. So, naturally, I’m not very hopeful.