After going down two games to none to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers maintained that his team needs to stay aggressive to get to the free throw line.
Game Two was a 115-111 overtime loss for the Celtics. Rivers declined to get into a controversy over the officiating.
"Not going to touch that," Rivers said on a conference call when asked about the officials. "I think Paul Pierce attacked just as much as LeBron James. I'll leave it at that, OK? (via WEEI)
Rivers praised his point guard Rajon Rondo for being aggressive. Rondo had a game-high 44 points on 16-24 shooting. Rondo was 10-12 from the free throw line. LeBron James, on the other hand, shot five fewer free throws (24) than the entire Celtics team (29) on Wednesday. Although Pierce only attempted six free throws, Rivers didn't fault his effort.
" I thought Paul was aggressive last night, even more so when you watch the film. Paul is a powerful guy and there's a lot of contact as well when he drives. We just want them to continue to be aggressive. You know LeBron and [Dwyane] Wade will be and there's nothing wrong with that, that's who they are. You know going into it: Yeah, they're going to get to the free throw line. We have to do that as well and we have to do it by being just as aggressive."
One way for Boston to try to get back in the series, according to Rivers, is to get Kevin Garnett more involved on the offensive end. After 23 points in 31 minutes to lead the team in Game One, Garnett had 18 points in 45 minutes in Game Two.
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