Can the Boston Celtics win with Paul Pierce?

Can a team win with one of the elite players in the game, one who has been among the league’s top 10 scorers the last two seasons and ranked fifth before Wednesday at 28.7 points per game?

Huh?

It’s a question that was asked about Michael Jordan in his fifth season, as Pierce is now. Sure it seems they can score any time they want to. But does that lead to team success?

It’s a question the Celtics asked about Jordan in 1986 after he hit them with a record 63 points in a playoff game. Yet the Celtics swept M.J.’s Bulls.

Pierce was third in the NBA in scoring behind Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal as Boston went to the Eastern Conference finals last season.

“It is a fine line,” he acknowledged.

Pierce is the Celtics’ leader in assists this season, although that is deceiving ” he also leads in shot attempts. The 6-foot-6-inch former Kansas University forward tends to dominate the ball.

It’s what raised serious questions about Pierce when he played with the U.S. team in the World Championships last summer.

Pierce was the high scorer and best player, but he also seemed the most selfish. He’s no Jordan, but Jordan heard the same things early in his Bulls career.

Jordan liked to say it was easier to pass if you had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, as Larry Bird did, or James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Magic Johnson did. He had Brad Sellers and Dave Corzine in his fifth season.

So Pierce looks around and sees Tony Battie, Eric Williams and Tony Delk. And he shoots.

It earned him an exasperated benching at the end of the World Championships. Pierce constantly looked off his teammates, angrily demanded the ball and questioned teammates when he didn’t get it, once getting into a shouting match on the bench with Andre Miller, who’s notably unselfish.

It was a team deteriorating into chaos, and Pierce was the leader. Of course, that game also is what got him selected.

Will he ever figure it out? Many wondered if Jordan ever would.

“I’m a competitive player,” Pierce said. “It’s not that I’m not showing confidence in my teammates. It’s what I feel I can do to help my team win.”

The issue confronts all the great scorers early in their careers and has followed Kobe Bryant in recent years. First they need to score to become a threat and to establish their reputations. Then they need to take their team somewhere.

Bryant has. Pierce has to.

“I always thought I’d be a better pro than college player,” Pierce said. He averaged 16.4 in three years at Kansas, fewer than he’s averaged in any of his pro seasons. “I feel I’m an elite player. I’m confident.”

As the losses mounted for the U.S. team this summer, others were saying that Pierce was a destructive force. His supporters, however, say he was willing to step up on a team for which not enough players did.

“I’m one of the top players on this team,” Pierce said. “I get the credit when we win. So I’ve got to be able to take the criticism when we lose. I’m ready for it.”

But will it take the Celtics anywhere?