Celtics’ hopes ride on Pierce

May 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WALTHAM, Mass.

LeBron James soared for dunks and stepped back for long jumpers, sending an immediate message to the Boston Celtics that he could not be guarded.

On the other end, Paul Pierce matched him shot for shot.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, that was two years ago.

It’s been a one-sided matchup at small forward this time, a big reason the Cleveland Cavaliers have a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Game 4 is today, and the Celtics know that if James can’t be stopped, then Pierce must get started.

“We just need Paul to be aggressive,” forward Kevin Garnett said Saturday. “On both ends. Period.”

James and Pierce engaged in a thrilling duel in this round in 2008, with James scoring 45 points and Pierce answering with 41 to help the Celtics pull out a 97-92 Game 7 victory. Boston went on to win the NBA championship and the aging team still believes it has one last run.

That’s hard to imagine if Pierce doesn’t pick up his play. The All-Star forward is shooting just 31 percent from the field in the series, has made only 4 of 16 3-point attempts and is averaging 12.7 points.

“Obviously we do want to get him involved more, he has to get his rhythm better,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after practice.

After struggling in Game 2, when his sore right elbow looked worse than perhaps it is, James resumed overpowering the Celtics the way he usually does Friday night. He scored 21 of his 38 points in the first quarter, helping the Cavs put it away early in their 124-95 victory, Boston’s worst home loss ever in the playoffs.

In addition to his offensive dominance — he is the career leader in scoring average against the Celtics — James is an All-Defensive team selection who is making things tough for Pierce. And Boston is helping by not doing enough to get its leading scorer in the flow.

“They really haven’t gone to Pierce a lot, which is OK with us,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “Pierce is a great player and the only thing we hope we can do when he catches is try to make him work.

“We haven’t quote-unquote shut him down, but ’Bron’s done a nice job of trying to stay in front and not give him any angles and contest and just try to make it as tough on him as he can. And Paul’s missed a couple of shots and hopefully he will continue.”

Neither James nor Pierce spoke to the media Saturday.

The matchup was never more lopsided than in the pivotal first quarter Friday, when James shot 8 of 10 while outscoring the Celtics by himself. Meanwhile, Pierce missed all five attempts on his way to a 4-of-15 night.