At 36 years old, Paul Pierce is far from being a young player. He has probably already passed through his “prime” and is on the latter portion of his career, in which most players of his caliber tend to lose their effectiveness.
When he was traded in June from the Boston Celtics, the only NBA team he had ever played for, along with Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Nets, many people around the league downplayed the deal, noting that all three of those players have seen their better days in the league.
For Terry, since traded to the Kings, and Garnett, who was a measly 1-for-5 from the floor for the Nets in Game 1, that common sentiment may be true. However, for Pierce, it really appears that reports of his demise are completely inaccurate, as it’s pretty clear that The Truth still has some answers, especially in crucial moments of games.
Yesterday, in Toronto, Pierce didn’t do much in the first half of yesterday’s win, scoring just six points, but when the fourth quarter came around, he was locked-in from the field. The veteran, who has made a career out of making extremely clutch shots in crucial late moments in games, did it again against a stunned Toronto team in front of a stunned Toronto crowd.
He scored nine points in a row for the Nets, with a couple of Raptors hoop in the middle, at the tail end of the fourth quarter as the Nets saw their lead go from three to seven. Normally, a four-point differential isn’t a big deal but with just less than a minute remaining in regulation, it matters a lot, and allowed Brooklyn to ice the game with perfect 6-for-6 free-throw shooting en route to a huge Game 1 victory in a loud and hostile Air Canada Centre.
Pierce scored his points how he usually does, with a lot of shot variation and enough smoothness and casualness to ease a baby to sleep.
He started off his barrage with a wing three off a Deron Williams feed, the Nets’ first triple since the first quarter (they went 4-for-24 from downtown in the game), which extended Brooklyn’s lead to 82-76 and quieted the home crowd. He then pump-faked Patrick Patterson out of his shoes to open himself up for a crafty drive to the hoop and lay-in. A fadeaway baseline jumper over Jonas Valanciunas ensued before he hit the ultimate dagger: a turnaround 18-footer over Patterson, yet again, that was set up by a beautiful spin move.
As many people have noted, after the last shot over Patterson, Pierce screamed “That’s why they got me here. That’s why I’m here” to anyone who wanted to listen. Pierce has been here before, and makes those kind of incredible, game-clinching shots all the time, especially during big games, so he probably wasn’t surprised to seal the win for the Nets. He was just reiterating, with his candid on-court remarks, that people should watch their criticisms of him and the “old” Nets because they both still have a lot left in the tank.
I’m not as convinced about KG, but there is no doubt in my mind that Paul Pierce will play a huge role for the Nets in this series with both his scoring and defensive abilities, in addition to the extreme playoff experience he brings to the table. If he can keep playing like he did in the fourth quarter of Game 1, then the Nets shouldn’t have much trouble with the Raptors and just may advance far in this postseason. Pretty good for a 36-year-old and his “old” and “unathletic” team, huh?
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