Pierce Rips Raptors in Fourth as Celtics Win Fifth Straight

Couper Moorhead
November 19, 2008
Celtics.com

Paul Pierce was due. In the six games prior to the Boston Celtics' 94-87 win over the Toronto Raptors Monday night, Pierce had reached 20 points just twice and was shooting 37% from the field. But with the Celtics winning, the "slump" stayed in the shadows. Even a seven-point performance against the Detroit Pistons last Sunday was pushed aside by the bench scoring, and the W.

Eventually, the Celtics were going to need him. Eventually, the starting unit's recent penchant for slow starts would catch up with them, and with the team in the hole, the outcome would be decided either by Pierce catching fire, or going down firing. So, with the Celtics down by double digits in the third quarter of a divisional matchup, Pierce (36 points, nine rebounds) put on his boxing gloves, pumped some air into his sneakers, strapped the team to his back, and carried the Celtics to a victory.

With 22 points in the fourth quarter -- matching the entire Toronto team in that span -- while playing every minute of the second half, Pierce put on the inevitable show that the unlucky Raptors could merely witness.

"We knew he was capable of going off at any moment and I [saw] it in his eyes," Leon Powe said. "He wanted the ball, he wanted to take over, he wanted to be that guy and he went out there and executed.

"We basically just said, 'Paul you go one on one and if you miss we'll try to get the rebound.' It's amazing, he's one of the greatest players in this league and when he's going like that, there aren't too many people that can stop him."

Earlier in the night, though, Pierce didn't look like himself, much less one of the greatest players in the NBA. In fact, anyone who turned the game off at halftime after seeing Pierce miss two point-blank bunnies might've guessed he was headed toward the short list of not-so-good Pierce games. But just as he was on opening night, Pierce was the man who stepped out of the doldrums, grabbed momentum and made it his.

"It feels good. I've been sort of in a slump lately, and hopefully with a game like this I can start playing a little bit better," Pierce said, wearing an ice bag on his shooting hand thanks to an injury originally suffered on the road in Houston last week. "But, you know, it is what it is. I don't worry about slumps, I just try to do what I need to do to help this ballclub win."

Pierce made plenty of crowd pleasing shots in the second half -- back-to-back three's in the fourth quarter to close the gap, a pair of fading jumpers for the lead, a reverse layup to ice it -- but most telling was that he wasn't playing over his head. Every shot was a Paul Pierce shot.

"That's why he's a great player," Rivers said. "That's why great players are great players. The average player could not have withstood that in the first half. The average player misses shots and he shuts off. The great players miss a shot and he starts thinking the odds are on his side."

There's no questioning Pierce's status as a great player, but on nights like Monday, when the Truth is demolishing any attempts at defense and making playoff teams look helpless, even his teammates wonder if he's something a little more.

"I love when Superman goes in the booth and transforms," Kevin Garnett said. "I love it. I got the best seat in the house...Aww, man."

Heading back North a game lower in the Atlantic Division standings, that's probably about all the Raptors can say after Pierce's performance. Aww, man.