It's hard to believe Jerry Stackhouse still plays in the NBA. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)

Dribble to a spot. Create separation. Rise. Splash.

When Paul Pierce has it going, it’s that easy. He’s not always the smoothest player but when his midrange game is working, Pierce is as efficient as they come. Put a smaller player on him, and he’ll back his way to his spot, turn, and release a shot he knows won’t be bothered. Put a player his size or taller on him, and he’ll take a dribble or two, followed by one step back, then release a shot he knows won’t be bothered. When it comes to getting unmolested jumpers off, Pierce is one of the best. Always in control, always poised and deliberate, always able to get free from his defender just long enough to get his shot off.

For awhile this season, his midrange game had abandoned him. But it came back last night, and abruptly.

After another ehhh first half (6 points), Pierce returned the land of midrange. “In the third quarter, we decided to spread the court a bit and I was able to find space,” he said. Well, that and the basket started to look the size of the ocean. He made his first seven field goals of the second half. He got whatever he wanted. He alerted Milwaukee that he would be a matchup problem should the two teams meet in the playoffs. 18 second-half points, and they were easy ones. Just like things used to be.

The Celtics’ intensity level was just like it used to be, too.

“With about four minutes to go in the second quarter, they started getting really physical with us,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “And we didn’t respond really well to that.”  I guess he doesn’t consider a Kurt Thomas belly-to-back suplex of Glen Davis responding well.  Or Jerry Stackhouse working on his mixed martial arts ground game against Pierce.  Or maybe Skiles’ own temper tantrum, which resulted in his ejection from the game, was the poor response he referred to.

“Boston is like big bullies from school,” proclaimed Brandon Jennings. “A lot of teams don’t like that.” But, Jennings said, the Bucks do. “All I can say is just sit back, get ready for the playoffs, because this is fitting to be crazy. We’re up for it and it’s going to be a crazy series.”

Jennings continued, “Jerry (Stackhouse) told me on the court, he said ‘Watch when the playoffs come, this is shifting to be fun.”

Maybe. But, if Pierce keeps his midrange game going, the potential series with Boston might not be so fun for Milwaukee after all.

He’s got a point guard, probably his team’s second-best player, shooting less than 37%… for the entire season. His new best player, an Aussie big man, is best known as an NBA player for being chosen ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the draft. His old best player, a sharp-shooting lefty, has missed almost the entire season with injuries, and will miss the remainder of the campaign with a torn ACL. The rest of the team is a collection of has-been’s, never-were’s, and never-will-be’s. Somehow, the Milwaukee Bucks are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and the hottest team in the NBA.

Scott Skiles, take a bow. Then another one. Keep going, you deserve all the applause we can give you. Read more »

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Pierce caught a pass from Rajon Rondo, dribbled to the right, and fired an elbow jumper that missed, ruining what would have been another impressive rally. But it should not have come to that point. ‘We have to do a better job of buckling down in the fourth quarter with the team up 4 or 6 and try to put them away,’’ said Pierce, who did not score in the fourth quarter. “This was a possession by possession game when it came down to it. They made the necessary stops and necessary plays they needed down the stretch.’”

AP Recap, CSNNE – “‘I loved the shot,’ Pierce said. ‘I thought I got to my spot. Sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes. We gave away some possessions there in the fourth quarter, we gave them a couple of layups and we let them get an eight-point lead late and then we had to grind. So we have to do a better job, especially in fourth quarters, of knuckling down.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I didn’t think it was good,’ Allen said about the ball movement. ‘It wasn’t consistent all night. We really didn’t score. We were down 8 so we had to score. I thought we did an OK job the last minute or two, but we didn’t score.’ Allen averaged 18.7 points over his previous 10 games before scoring just 3 last night. The last time Allen did not convert a field goal was Feb. 11, 2009, when he went 0 for 3 in an 89-77 win at New Orleans.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I think he’s the toughest matchup I’ve had all season,” said Kendrick Perkins, who has gone up against Orlando’s Dwight Howard four times and the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum twice this season. ‘He’s playing well, and he got the best of it tonight.’ Coming from Perkins, that is the ultimate compliment. But after watching Bogut have a Moses Malone kind of night by feasting on his own misses, and by prolonging possessions with five offensive boards, there was nothing else the Celtics center could say.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I just stood over him, let him know, ‘I’m all right,’ ‘ Jennings said. The incident appeared to energize Milwaukee, which went on to score an 86-84 win against the C’s. ‘No doubt about it,’ Jennings said. ‘Once that happened, I said, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s on now.’ ‘ Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers: ‘I don’t think the foul was hard enough for a reaction. Honestly, I don’t think Jennings did enough for Baby to react. So it’s just two young guys acting up, but no big deal.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Another day, another heart attack. Read more »

On the 13th anniversary of Biggie Smalls’ death, it seems only appropriate to celebrate the Celtics’ Life After Death. Read more »

Wouldn't you rather see Larry Bird in the HORSE competition than Omri Casspi or Rajon Rondo?

You weren’t the only one. An unnamed league exec bashed the NBA’s HORSE competition and the players it selects, and suggested some changes to make it better.

Via TrueHoop:

The league selects the absolute worst H.O.R.S.E. competitors.

Rajon Rondo???

Here’s how you make H.O.R.S.E. good:

You gotta have the guy who hits crazy impossible shots. Steve Nash would have been perfect.

You gotta have guys with OVERSIZED trash talking personalities. A guy like Eddie House or Rasheed Wallace or even Brandon Jennings. Just an all-round talker.

Nash, Nate Robinson, Rasheed, and Baron Davis. Now that’s a HORSE competition worth watching.

Omri Casspi should be interesting. He looks like he has some off-the-wall stuff.

Not Kevin Durant’s boring a–! And definitely not Rondo! Knock him out making five consecutive free throws!!

I say take it one step farther: have Larry Bird and Reggie Miller participate in the HORSE competition. Can you imagine Bird, mic’ed up, trying to eliminate Reggie? Trash-talking the whole time? Would either of them ever miss a clutch shot to end the game?

Someone on one of the million NBA telecasts I watched over the last week suggested that Bird and Miller be asked to join the three-point contest, but HORSE seems like an even better fit.