After Monday’s overtime win against the Utah Jazz, Paul Pierce said that his late game duel with DeMarre Carroll dated back to this summer but left it up to the Jazz forward to fill in the details. Carroll explained further to the Salt Lake Tribune’s Steve Luhm at the Jazz’s Tuesday morning practice:

“It’s just a summer thing,” Carroll said, explaining he often works out with Kevin Garnett and Pierce in Los Angeles during the offseason.

“I’ve been killing him in the summer, and he said I was fouling. Once we get in a real game, he said, ‘I’m going to be able to get what I want.’ ”

“He had the refs on his side so, what he said before, it came to life,” said Carroll, who noted his rivalry with Pierce and Garnett is not fueled by animosity.

“They really love me and really speak highly of me. They think of me like their little brother. But when we step on the court, I ain’t friends.”

I don’t really know much about Carroll, but working out with two future hall-of-famers is a pretty smart move and if KG and Pierce think highly of him that’s good enough for me. Maybe he could teach his teammate Alec Burks a thing or two?

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