Pierce, Ex-Celtic and Current Net, Straddling Two Cities BOSTON - Paul Pierce kept a low profile here Wednesday, but the two pictures he posted to his Instagram account during the day told a story. Around noon, he uploaded a photograph that showed four Boston Red Sox caps arrayed around a shirt bearing the words "Red Sox Nation." The picture and the caption - "Let's go" - were not surprising coming from Pierce, 36, who spent 15 N.B.A. seasons in Boston before a trade three months ago transferred him to Brooklyn alongside Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. Then, shortly after 6 p.m., he posted another snapshot, this one without a caption, showing a coming Sports Illustrated magazine cover that depicts the Nets" starting five and coach. For the time being - and presumably for the rest of his Nets career - Pierce's loyalties will straddle two cities. He will chase a championship this season from Brooklyn, his new home, while treasuring the one he captured in Boston, the home he adopted for a decade and a half. "They've still got that feeling deep down inside this was their home," Terry said about Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who led the Celtics to the 2008 title. They revived the legendary status of the Boston Celtics when they came here. They carved out their own niche. And I can envision both of their jerseys hanging up in the rafters as Celtics. From the moment he was traded, Pierce said he would prefer to make his return to TD Garden in Boston during the regular season. He admitted that it would be an emotional moment for him, that tears would be shed, and he questioned the benefit of going through it multiple times. Returning for a preseason game would feel like an awkward false start before the main event. That led to an unusual situation on Wednesday. Pierce and Garnett traveled with the Nets for their preseason game against the Celtics and participated in the morning shootaround. But they left the group without doing any interviews and were not at the arena as the Nets lost to the Celtics, 101-97 Coach Jason Kidd - who ultimately elected to rest his entire starting group - praised the positive influence of Garnett and Pierce and lauded their professionalism and attitude. "The Boston people have been very lucky to have them here," Kidd said. And now we're very lucky to have them on our side. At the same time, amid their stoicism and competitiveness, the pair's attachment to Boston has given the season an intriguingly humanizing story line. That the Celtics seem noncompetitive at the moment seems to have prevented their potentially divided loyalties from becoming controversial. Pierce says that he has acclimated to New York. He has taken tours around Brooklyn. He singled out the Meatpacking District as an early favorite Manhattan neighborhood. This week, Du Jour magazine honored him at a large party at the Palm steakhouse in TriBeCa. And the traffic no longer vexes him. "I got out here early, in September, so I could figure out my way around, get to know which right turns and left turns to make, understanding the odds go up and the evens go down, figuring out which tunnels to avoid at what time," Pierce said, laughing. Now, I know it like the back of my hand. Pierce has settled into his new home, but he was not ready to make his homecoming to Boston. His absence Wednesday, and Garnett's, left some fans a bit disappointed. Walter Carbone, 54, from Boston, arrived at the arena alone, even though his daughter had agreed at first to accompany him. "She's a big Celtics fan, but she blew me off when she heard they weren't coming," he said, laughing. Ashley Hugh, 17, from Derry, N.H., walked to her seat with her uncle and surveyed the court as the Celtics warmed up. It was an unfulfilling exercise. "I don't recognize anyone," she said.