38 Special: Pierce Supreme in Losing Effort

By Scott Tribble
Celtics.com Correspondent
June 16, 2008

Paul Pierce holds Boston fans in high esteem, but, in Sunday night's 103-98 Game 5 loss in Los Angeles, The Truth certainly did everything in his power to prevent them from seeing a Celtics' championship in person.

Playing all but two seconds in a hard-fought contest against the Lakers, Pierce scored 38 points on 10/22 shooting from the field and 16/19 from the line. The Celtics' captain also grabbed six rebounds on the night, while dishing out eight assists. Despite impressive comebacks in both halves, however, the Celtics could not close out the Lakers, and the NBA Finals now returns to Boston, with the two teams squaring off in a Game 6 matchup on Tuesday.

"[Pierce] was terrific," Celtics' Coach Doc Rivers said after the game. "I thought he was really aggressive to the basket. Getting to the foul line 19 times tells you that I thought he really went for it, if you want to put it that way."

Indeed, The Truth came up biggest when the Celtics needed him most. With the Green Team starting the game out flat, the Lakers established a daunting 39-22 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Over the course of the second, Pierce spearheaded an impressive Boston comeback. During a 15-0 run, the Celtics' captain scored 11 points, while assisting on a Tony Allen layup. Later, as Boston rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit, Pierce once again loomed large. The tenth-year veteran exploded for 12 points in the final frame, including a clutch 10/10 from the line.

In the end, though, Pierce and the Celtics came up short, with one play, in particular, sealing their fate. With forty seconds remaining, the C's had a chance to tie the game. As Pierce surveyed his options, Kobe Bryant reached from behind and tapped the ball into the hands of Lamar Odom. After receiving an outlet pass from his teammate, Bryant delivered a thundering dunk that put the Lakers up 99-95.

"We were trying to run a screen roll, which we've been running all fourth quarter with Kevin, and set the high pick. I thought I cleared the screen," Pierce said. "[Bryant] made a great defensive play. He reached around and tapped the ball from behind, and it was just a great defensive play."

In truth, the turnabout was only fair, as Pierce had been making Lakers defenders look foolish all night. The Celtics' captain effectively toyed with Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton, repeatedly blowing past each man and drawing foul after foul.

"His match up is difficult," Lakers' Coach Phil Jackson admitted. "He's strong. He's able to make some step throughs or some pivots that get him by our defenders. He got eight assists on top of us trying to rotate and go to him and help out against him, so he's even making plays and becoming a playmaker."

Bryant likewise had praise for his foe after the game.

"I enjoy watching him play, I enjoy playing against him, and he's fantastic," Bryant said of Pierce. "As far as tonight, he did what a great player does. He attacked and saw opportunities to keep his team in the ballgame, and that's what he did."

With the Game 6 matchup looming, Pierce told reporters that the Celtics must come out of the gate stronger, especially after allowing 35 and 39 points in the first quarters of Games 4 and 5.

"We've just got to get off to better starts. The Lakers dominated us in the first quarter the last couple of games. It's tough when you're always fighting back from big leads of 16, 17 points. We don't thrive on that, letting a team get ahead and expecting to get back in the game. That's not something we practice."

Despite the tough loss on Sunday, Pierce remains confident about the Celtics' position heading into Game 6.

"We're up one game with two games to go at home, so it still feels like we have the advantage in the series, and I do feel like we're the better team."

As to whether he can top his own Finals performance to date, Pierce told reporters flatly, "I have plenty in the tank."