Associated Press photo
Think about this season for a minute.
Think about all the story lines we've been talking about.
How awesome is Rajon Rondo? KG looks healthy! Shaq is surprising us! Wow, that Erden kid might be something. Glen Davis is playing out of his mind.
We've talked about just about everything except how great Paul Pierce has been.
Just look at last night's edition of The Two Man game. Chuck and I had a whole hour to blather on about all things Celtics and Paul Pierce didn't come up until Paul Flannery interjected it in the second half of the show.
Pierce was even the subject of yesterday's dump and we still didn't think to bring him up... because even though he's having, statistically, one of his best seasons... he's doing so very quietly.
Peter May highlighted Pierce's efficiency today on ESPN Boston... scratching the surface of what Pierce has been doing this season.
He's shooting better than he ever has. His effective field goal percentage (a stat adjusted to account for 3's counting for one extra point) is 57.9%... 4% higher than his previous high last year. His true shooting percentage (which takes into account all field goals and free throws) is a career high 63.3%. The only other time it was over 60% was last season. His turnover percentage (an estimate of TO's per 100 plays) is 10... the lowest of his career and lowest since 01-02. And take into account that his usage rate (basically a measure of how often he finishes off a possession) is the lowest of his career.
So he's not involved in the offense as much... but he's shooting far better than he ever has and he's not turning the ball over nearly as much as he used to.
So while Paul Pierce's 19.7 points per game is currently the 5th lowest of his career... I would say Paul Pierce is having his finest offensive season. And because he's not dominating the ball, he's not dominating the headlines.
(Stats via Basketball-Reference.com)