BOSTON - Mickael Pietrus had to endure a lockout and then some before he even got the chance to play the game he loves. To make matters even worse, Pietrus didn't get to experience the joy of winning with his new team until his fifth game.
At long last, Pietrus experienced the sweet taste of victory in a Celtics uniform on Wednesday night in the C's 96-73 blowout win over the Toronto Raptors.
"It's always good to see a smile on the face of my teammates and I enjoyed it," Pietrus said. "Just have to think about the next one, it's going to be even harder and I think that you just have to stay focused. We've been doing great things defensively and offensively so just keep doing it."
Pietrus signed with the Celtics on a veteran minimum deal after being waived by the Phoenix Suns, the team he will face in his next game on Friday. After signing with the Celtics on Christmas Eve, Pietrus continued to recover from offseason knee surgery, which kept him out until January 11 against the Dallas Mavericks.
Pietrus didn't make much of an impact in his first three games with the team but had a resurgence on Monday night, when he scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the Celtics' 97-88 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. His rejuvenated level of play carried into Monday, as the veteran forward scored 12 points and hit some timely threes in the win.
"I think we moves the ball extremely well," said Pietrus. "We were able to get open and make some shots. We started feeling much better about ourselves starting the game so I'm confident."
Regarding his increased level of play, Pietrus insists that nothing has changed. At the end of the day, it's just Pietrus being Pietrus.
"Nothing (changed)," he said. "I'm just trying to be Mickael Pietrus. I'm just trying to enjoy my time and just trying to help my team the best way I can. I'll be honest with you, I never look at what I do on the floor. So long as my team gets a win, Mickael Pietrus is happy."
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