“I think our whole focus is going to be on the defensive end,” said Pierce, as Garnett nodded his head. “We have so many weapons on offense, and the great thing about it is we play unselfishly. We were able to move the ball.

But Kendrick Perkins [stats] returned to the game in the second quarter after three quick fouls and a seat in the first, and the defensive intensity seemed to pick up.

In the NBA, setting the perfect screen requires commitment and self-sacrifice. Executed at the highest level, the skill demands that the biggest men on the court stand in the path of opposing guards and small forwards, freeing teammates for shots. Without a screen setter like the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen would be endlessly harassed on offense, looking at obstructed views of the basket. With Perkins, opposing players are often left wondering what hit them. The answer is a 6-foot-10inch, 280-pound center who craves contact. Throughout the season, Perkins has bruises on his arms and chest to prove it, reminders of all the elbows, shoulders, and heads that have collided with his body.
"Learning how to set a screen is just giving up your body," he says. "It's like setting a block in football. I'll try to go down and really take somebody's head off with my screens. If I set a good screen and, ka-boom, make somebody's neck jump, I love that."
Perkins estimates he sets some kind of screen on every Celtics possession, which can translate to roughly 40 per game. When he sets a screen for Pierce, Perkins singles out Pierce's defender from the moment the Celtics bring the ball up court. Next, Perkins sizes up the angles at play, asking himself where and how he can intersect the defender for a solid hit.
After four seasons together, the two rely on an intuitive sense of timing. Pierce must make sure Perkins stands set in the proper place before he makes a run that will force his defender into the Celtics' center. If poor positioning and poor timing occur, the defender can more easily get around Perkins and increase the odds of an offensive foul. But when they're in synch, each player boosts the other. "With me setting the screen and Paul hitting the shot," Perkins says, "I feel like I hit the shot because I got him open."

The first part of Thursday’s workout was devoted to defense, as usual. Tom Thibodeau kept yelling to get the players on the same page, and the group seemed to take his words very seriously. After Thibodeau completed his task, Rivers had the teams play five on five.

But just as the attention off the court has loosened up, so will the pressure on the court. And now that he won't have to carry the load on offense every night, Pierce plans to pout more effort into his defense.
"I put so much energy into scoring and rebounding in past years that I just did have the energy to be the type of defender that I know I can be," said Pierce. "That's going to be my focus this year, to show people I can defend on a high level against anyone in the NBA."