At Boston's practice on Thursday, Paul Pierce attempted to clear the air following his on-court argument with head coach Doc Rivers.

"I was upset," he said. "I couldn't remember the last time I got snatched out of the game for something I felt was minor. But it's the coach who's making the decisions. I got to deal with it and move on.

"I mean, I was taken out for something I did offensively and that was the first time that has happened to me in my whole career," he continued. "I had a reaction. It was pretty much uncalled for. It's tough, especially when you're trying to develop a team, especially when you've got a lot of young players. They see something like that go on and it's not really setting a good example. That's why I came in [yesterday] morning and apologized to everybody. I've got to do a better job of setting an example, regardless of the situation or the time of the game."

Pierce twice referred to the incident as "nothing big" and added, "At times, it gets frustrating between coaches and players. That's understandable. That's normal. People don't understand that."