The NBA announced the reserves for the 2002 All-Star Game yesterday and, as expected, Pierce joined starter Antoine Walker on the Eastern Conference team. Pierce secured his first appearance with help from the league's head coaches, who voted for the reserves.

Pierce, who is second in the league in scoring, finished sixth among guards in fan balloting with 254,840 votes. But he was in arguably the most competitive slot on the All-Star ballot, with starters Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan, plus Jason Kidd and Ray Allen. But it was hard to ignore Pierce, who accounts for 27.9 percent of the Celtics' point production; no one in the NBA scores a higher percentage of his team's points.