Theatre in the roundball

Doc Rivers took a few pages out the coaches’ motivational handbook before yesterday’s game against the Nets.

Still stinging from Thursday’s 108-88 beating at the hands of the Cavaliers, Rivers had his team watch the HBO documentary about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on Friday.

“I thought we needed to be together,” Rivers said. “Sometimes instead of watching us play - and I don’t think anybody wanted to watch (the Cavs film) - instead of watching a horror film, I decided to watch a good film.”

Yesterday, players were greeted with a new sign near the exit to the locker room, which read: “Individuals win games, but teams win titles.”

Rivers admitted before yesterday’s game that he didn’t know if the ploys would have any impact in the short term. He was proven prophetic when the C’s lost, 104-96, to the hapless Nets.

“You don’t just watch it one day and the next day it seeps in or the next day the message is either received or lost,” Ray Allen said. “It’s something that hopefully those ideas of what that film was about and everything that we’ve been about just stays with us forever.”

Captain comeback?

Help might be on the way, as Rivers said he was hopeful Paul Pierce [stats] will play Tuesday when the C’s visit Detroit. Pierce has missed three games with a sprained right thumb.

“I’m hoping for that, and we’ll take it from there,” Rivers said. “He’s looking good, he’s running good, he’s catching the ball without any pain right now, so that’s a good sign.” . . .

Marquis Daniels looked much better after battling the flu Thursday night. Daniels said he was up all night after the Cavs game sweating the fever out of his system and spent all of Friday in bed.

Daniels had 16 points in 27 minutes against the Nets.

Vintage KG

Kevin Garnett matched his highest scoring output of the season with 26 points. Limited to just 27 minutes, the power forward was remarkably efficient, making 12-of-16 shots from the field.

Garnett, whose balky right knee remains closely monitored, showed his full repertoire, drilling his patented mid-range jump shots while also finishing at the rim.

“I liked that he was aggressive,” Rivers said. “Kevin is so unselfish, as everyone who’s been here knows. . . . Kevin is so 100 percent about the team, he’s always thinking ball movement early. One of the things we told him, ‘We are moving it - to you. And we want you to look at it.’ I thought he did a great job of that early on.”

Free pass

The Nets were 34-for-41 at the foul line compared with just 9-of-11 for the C’s.

“I guess they were being more aggressive than we were,” Daniels said. . . .

Kendrick Perkins [stats] (two points) picked up his 12th technical of the season in the second quarter for arguing a traveling call. Players are suspended for one game after their 16th technical. . . .

Nets guard Courtney Lee left the game with 10:56 remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return after spraining his left ankle when he landed on Brian Scalabrine’s foot.