BOSTON -- Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird to move into second place on the franchise's list of all-time leading scorers during Tuesday night's game with the Charlotte Bobcats at TD Garden.
Pierce buried a 3-pointer from the right wing with 10:23 to go in the third quarter to move past Bird, who scored 21,791 points during his career, spent entirely with the Celtics. Play continued even as the crowd serenaded Pierce with a long ovation, which continued as Jermaine O'Neal committed a shooting foul (and got tagged with a technical as well).
Pierce, who also has spent his entire career with Boston, acknowledge the crowd, raising his arms numerous times, then signaled for the crowd to get louder while standing at halfcourt as Charlotte's Reggie Williams was shooting free throws.
During the first full timeout following the milestone, Pierce was honored on the JumboTron with a video tribute and went to halfcourt to take a bow as the crowd roared again.
Pierce got his first bucket of the game on a layup with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter, then added an and-1 drive later in the frame. Pierce produced a jumper midway through the second quarter, but then seemed to be pressing and couldn't get the record before intermission. He missed seven shots in the first half (3-of-10, 7 points), including all five attempts from beyond the arc.
Pierce sits 28th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. He soon will leapfrog another former Celtic in Gary Payton (21,813) and is on the heels of San Antonio's Tim Duncan (22,009) with eyes on moving into the Top 25.
Big Three brethren Ray Allen (24th) and Kevin Garnett (19th) are already in that club, as are Celtics legends Robert Parish (23,334 -- 18,245 of which came in Boston) and John Havlicek (26,395, No. 1 on the Celtics list).
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