“It’s not only a great testament to Paul being committed, but also the organization being committed and kind of following through on the plan and using him for what they were doing to help win the championship.’’
Midweek games in February are seldom memorable. But the Celtics’ 94-84 win over Charlotte at TD Garden will stand out because of Pierce’s accomplishment, surpassing Larry Bird in points scored. Or, it might be consigned to obscurity, as Bird’s 1987-88 supplanting of Bob Cousy (16,955) as the Celtics’ No. 2 scorer became.
For now, though, Pierce has made another contribution to Celtics history.
“Well, how we grew up, we looked at Larry Bird, he set the tone,’’ Allen said. “Magic [Johnson] set the tone, MJ [Michael Jordan], Doctor J [Julius Erving] set the tone. Those are the guys who were icons to us growing up, that generation. We know them, understand them, see them, and they changed the game.
“The kids growing up nowadays don’t have a huge connection to those players and they connect more to us, you know. So, now we’re taking over in the eyes of young kids growing up. You know, you ask a kid now, Bird is one of the greatest of all time, shooters, and most kids haven’t seen him play. You understand the awesomeness that people … you know how they look at him, but most kids haven’t seen him play.
“They’re looking at Paul like he’s the guy I want to be like. He’s one of the legends they want to grow up to be like and be part of the organization. With that comes great responsibility. We’re now in that generation - kids look up to us and that’s why when they grow up they’ll say they remember days like this when he passed Larry Bird.’’
Allen experienced a similar situation last season when he passed Reggie Miller as the league’s all-time leader in 3-pointers.
“I think it’s a tough situation,’’ Allen said, “because you’re going through something personally but you don’t want to take away from what’s going on.’’
The Celtics attempted to help Pierce get to the mark.
