We can't seem to get a reliable report on whether or not Pierce will play tonight. The best we got is a tweet from Pierce that said...
"close very very close very"
My guess is that he does play tonight. If he is that close he is going to play, especially with the Celtics home opener tonight, and their rough 0-3 start. Obviously it's early in the year, but the Celtics have a good chance to right the ship a little bit over the next 5 games...
vs. Pistons
@ Wizards
vs. Wizards
vs. Nets
vs. Pacers
Those are all winnable games (obviously a lot more winnable with Pierce on the floor). There is also rumors that say Pietrus might be able to go tonight. I think that could be a huge advantage having Pierce and Pietrus on the floor. The Celtics will be able to stop playing guys like Sasha Pavlovic, which is basically a win within itself.
While I am very worried about the Celtics in terms of being able to make a Championship run (especially with KG looking like he has aged another 5 years over the offseason) I don't think it is fair at all to judge this team till Pierce and Pietrus are back. Pierce will obviously add some scoring, and what team isn't made better by getting their 2nd best player back? Pietrus will add some defense off the bench, which could be big because the Celtics have been giving up way too many point this season.
***UPDATE***
"Celtics GM Danny Ainge tells the Globe that Mickael Pietrus likely to make debut by mid-January. About two weeks away. (Gary Washburn - CelticsBlog)"