NEW YORK -- Paul Pierce stared straight ahead, an occasional smile or laugh interrupting the otherwise distant look on his face. Now a Net, its clear hes still getting over not being a Celtic. "Its tough when youve been in a situation like me for 15 years," Pierce said. But hes getting used to it, and he and Kevin Garnett are ready to make the most of their new surroundings. Traded from Boston to Brooklyn, the duo was introduced along with Jason Terry on Thursday at a news conference at Barclays Center, their new home. Pierce said it was difficult to leave the city where hed spent his entire career. He appeared dazed at times while listening to questions and answers, even having to ask for one to be repeated while trying to fight his way out of a fog. "You saw the trade and its like, OK, theres a trade. But for me to actually be here now, looking for a place to live, being in this arena, trying to get to know my way around the city, its really starting to sink in now that its become real," Pierce said. "Im no longer a Boston Celtic, Im a Brooklyn Net and thats what it is right now," he continued. "Its a business. At some point we all have to move on and Im here to try to create some kind of legacy here in Brooklyn." The crowd applauded, appearing more excited about having Pierce in Brooklyn than he was about being here. Thats understandable given his history in Boston, where he is the Celtics No. 2 career scorer and was the NBA Finals MVP when they won the last of their NBA-high 17 championships. "Hell yeah, hes been with Boston his whole life," Garnett said. "Youve been in a system, been in a city, especially its the Celtics. Yeah, its very difficult." But Pierce realized it would be coming, saying he thought "the writing was on the wall" in June when the Celtics negotiated a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers to let coach Doc Rivers out of his contract in Boston. "Its sinking in and Im liking what I feel right now," Pierce said, adding he got a jolt when he saw his new white-and-black uniform in the locker room. The Celtics and Nets agreed to the blockbuster trade on draft night and it became official last week. Garnett waved a no-trade clause to accept the deal -- after some urging from Pierce during a lengthy phone call -- and while saying it was "unfortunate" they had to move on, he seemed to have a little easier time embracing it, greeting the audience with "Whats up, Brooklyn!" before his first remarks. "I dont know anyone that loves change, but change has to happen for things to (get) better," he said. The three newcomers were joined on the podium by general manager Billy King and first-year coach Jason Kidd, who at 40 is a longtime rival, a former teammate of Terrys and just a few years older than his new players. And they got a visit at the end from Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who made a late decision to attend the news conference and meet the players whose salaries helped the teams payroll soar so high that the club will pay about $80 million in luxury tax next season. "I think theyre still counting money in the back office, but frankly speaking, I just hope the check doesnt bounce," Prokhorov joked. The Russian billionaire has said his goal was to win a championship within five years of buying the team in 2010. Including the signing of Andrei Kirilenko this summer, Brooklyn has now gotten into position to contend. "For me, its not the way to wait 10, 15 years for results," Prokhorov said. With Pierce and Garnett joining the trio of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and All-Star centre Brook Lopez, the Nets will have one of the NBAs most potent lineups. But they will have to win soon, as Pierce will be 36 by opening night and Garnett is 37 -- though his refusal to answer to question about how much he has left showed he believes the answer is plenty. The Celtics won a title in the first year that Garnett and Pierce were together, and they believe the Nets have the talent to compete for one this season. "This is like mirror images," Garnett said. "You see the talent thats already here, you see us coming into it, now its about how well we gel." It will be strange trying to do it in jerseys that dont have any green. Garnetts even has an unfamiliar number, now in No. 2 in honour of his friend and former Minnesota teammate, the late Malik Sealy. Pierce always envisioned them playing together, but not anywhere else. He figured when he signed his last contract that he would retire a Celtic, and felt even more certain after Garnett later re-signed. "I thought we were going to be linked together pretty much the rest of our careers in Boston," Pierce said. "As you can see we are pretty much linked together, but just not in Boston anymore." Dino Ciccarelli Jersey . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Neal Broten Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. http://www.thedallasstarshockey.com/jaromir-jagr-hockey-jersey/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Tyler Seguin Jersey . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Bobby Smith Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. AMES, Iowa -- Iowa States offense has been very solid for stretches this season, and its defense has improved since last season.The problem is that the Cyclones cant get both clicking at the same time and that inconsistency helped knock them out of the Top 25.Iowa State (6-3) was left out of Mondays rankings, snapping a run of 61 straight weeks in the poll, after dropping three of its last four. The Cyclones are coming off one of their ugliest games in years, falling to Iowa 78-64 on the road last week.Iowa State will face instate rival Drake (1-8) on Saturday as part of a doubleheader in Des Moines.This team will be fine. I mean, I know were living off the Iowa game, Prohm said. This team has to play a certain way all the time, and we didnt do that in stretches in the Iowa game.Prohms way includes strong ball movement.For a team with a backcourt led by preseason All-American point guard Monte Morris, the Cyclones have too often failed to make the extra pass that leads to a better shot.A poor assist-to-basket ratio has symbolized Iowa States lack of ball movement in its last two losses. The Cyclones had just five assists in an overtime loss to No. 25 Cincinnati on Dec. 1 and just nine against the Hawkeyes, who entered play with a losing record.Prohm said the key to fixing Iowa States offense is for it to pick up the pace and cut down on what he called freelancing.First and foremost, weve got to start playing in transition. Weve got to get some easy baskets by playing in transition and pushing the tempo, Prohm said. When we run our offense and we execute, we get good shots.The Cyclones have also struggled because Naz Mitrou-Long just isnt shooting very welll.dddddddddddd.Mitrou-Long, who missed most of last season because of lingering issues with his surgically-repaired hips, is shooting just 39 percent from the floor and just 26.7 percent on 3s -- two years after ranking second in the Big 12 in 3s per game. Morris said hes confident that Mitrou-Long will eventually shoot his way out of his recent funk.Its not about how you start. Its how you finish, Mitrou-Long said. Ive put in too much work. These guys put in too much work. Weve beaten ourselves. Me and Monte talk about it every day. If it has to be us against the world, I like our chances.For a program whose expectations have soared in recent seasons, three losses out of four can feel like an epidemic.But things arent as bad as they might seem for the Cyclones.Iowa State rallied from 20 down and was within a Monte Morris 3 at the buzzer from beating No. 8 Gonzaga on Nov. 27. If Mitrou-Longs 3 at the regulation buzzer gone down against Cincinnati, the Cyclones would have won that game as well.Iowa States defense has also been better than its offense, and teams that defend well typically have a chance on the road once league play comes around.But for the Cyclones to get back on track, theyll need the loss at Iowa to be their tipping point.Its a bright future and a bright road down the line. Its tough right now and it might be hard to see for (the media). But there is definitely going to be a change, and its definitely going to get back to normal around here, Morris said.---More college basketball at www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '