Celtics captain Paul Pierce was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after helping to guide Boston to a 4-0 week while averaging a team-high 22 points to go along with 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds. A glimpse of his week from the NBA press release:

* Jan. 31 at Cleveland: Recorded 20 points, six assists and three steals in a 93-90 win over the Cavaliers. * Feb. 1 vs. Toronto: Tallied 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes in a 100-64 victory over the Raptors. * Feb. 3 vs. New York: Scored a game-high 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists in a 91-80 triumph over the Knicks. * Feb. 5 vs. Memphis: Closed the week with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists during a 98-80 victory over the Grizzlies.

Pierce beat out Chicago's Derrick Rose, Cleveland's Anderson Varejao, Detroit's Greg Monroe, Miami's LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings for the honor. San Antonio's Tony Parker won the award for the Western Conference.

Pierce earned nomination for the honor last week and probably deserved to win the award, but it instead went to James. Even with Rajon Rondo's return on Friday, Pierce continues to fill up the stat sheet and is playing some incredibly inspired ball, helping Boston win eight of its last nine games.