As Paul Pierce was being carried off the floor (and he wasn't just hopping on one leg with his arms around the shoulders of his teammates, he was really being carried off) with 6:49 to go in the third quarter of Game 1, you could just feel the prognosticators subtracting two games off their prediction. The sight of Pierce in a wheelchair a couple of minutes later could have been the beginning of the end of the Celtics' storybook season.

There was no way Boston could win the series without their go-to guy, and the chances of them winning a game were probably slim. And even though the Celtics' vaunted defense allowed them to regain the lead after Pierce left the game, you had to doubt their ability to keep it going without their captain.

Then, with 5:27 left to go in the third and the Celtics in the middle of a possession on the other end of the floor, Pierce emerged from the tunnel to a thunderous reaction from the crowd. You couldn't help but think of Willis Reed.

And when Ray Allen was fouled with 5:04 on the clock, Pierce checked in and the crowd got even louder.

In that Game 7 of the 1970 Finals, Reed was credited with giving the Knicks an emotional lift, but he scored just four points in the game.

Pierce scored 15 points in the third quarter.

That was after he scored just three points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. While his big three brethren, Allen and Kevin Garnett, were keeping the Celtics in the game, Pierce was hardly a factor in the first 24 minutes. He picked up his third foul with 5:14 to go in the second and sat out the rest of the half as the Lakers went on a 14-6 run to take a five-point lead into the break.

Coming out of the half, Pierce knew that he needed to step up. He was aggressive to start the third, scoring eight points (including a four-point play) in the first 1:13 of the period, putting his team up one. After the Lakers took back control, the moment that scared Celtics fans from here to Bangor, Maine happened.

Kobe Bryant drove on Pierce and hit a runner from the right side of the lane. Kendrick Perkins, who was much too far under the basket to even attempt to block Bryant's shot, did attempt to block the shot, and landed on the back of Pierce's right leg.

"When I first fell to the ground I heard a pop in my knee," Pierce said after the game, "and all I felt was pain when I grabbed it. And at that point I thought it was just ... I thought I tore something."

But back in the tunnel, Pierce eventually stood up and tried to put weight on the leg. It held up and Pierce had no doubt where he was going next.

"I had to get back out there to help my ball club," he said. "That was all that was going through my mind, just being a part of it. I just wanted to get back out there."

After 10 seasons of NBA basketball without an appearance in the Finals, Pierce wasn't going to let his first championship experience end after just 20:58 of playing time.

"It's been a long wait," Doc Rivers said of his captain's journey. "I don't think he wants to get here and then sit on the sidelines."

After his return, Pierce was fouled out top by Kobe Bryant and hit one of two at the line to put his team up three. But the Lakers went on another run to go up two with just over two minutes to go in the third.

That's when the hero had his moment. Pierce hit two consecutive threes, both on the break before the L.A. defense could set up after blocks from P.J. Brown and Kevin Garnett.

The two threes turned a one-point deficit into a five-point lead, a lead the Celtics would never give up on their way to a 98-88 victory.

Pierce's heroics didn't end there. In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Celtics went four straight possessions without a bucket, and the Lakers trimmed their lead, which had been at eight, down to four. Pierce then got the ball in the post and stroked a turnaround jumper over Derek Fisher to end the drought. Less than two minutes later, he hit two free throws to put them up eight.

Pierce finished with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, hitting 3-of-4 from downtown. Considering the circumstances, it was a historic performance, one that will be included with those of Russell, Havlicek and Bird in the Celtics history books ... as long as Boston wins this series.

For that to happen, they'll need more from Pierce. He was hobbling after the game, but you can be sure that he'll be in uniform come Game 2 on Sunday.

After the game, Brian Scalabrine, who was one of the teammates who carried Pierce off the court, was asked if he was surprised to see Pierce come back a few minutes later.

"Knowing him," Scalabrine replied, "I was surprised that we carried him off."