Josh Q. Public: Well, man, could it be that the girls and boys are trying to be heard above your noise? And the lonely voice of youth cries “What is truth?” -Johnny Cash
Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go! That’s right. All Celtics. All the time. All Paul Pierce. All the time. At least in this time. World Championship time. Growed folks time. Win or go home! You all know by know by now I love Paul Pierce. I love the Truth. Like my main Galileo always says: “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” I understand the Truth. I understand Paul Pierce. I understand he wants this thing. Wants it real bad. Wanted it real bad last night. Last night, Kendrick Perkins stepped on Pierce’s right ankle. Last night, Pierce’s knee twisted and popped. Last night, Pierce contorted on the floor clutching his right leg. Last night, Boston gasped a collective gasp as Pierce’s teammates had to carry him off of the court. Everybody’s been comparing it to Willis Reed. Everbody’s been talking on air it to Willis Reed. Everybody’s been hot airing it to Willis Reed. I disagree. Mike Wilpon alluded to it. I was there. I was there where the real similarity took place. I was there when Larry Bird’s head bounced off the Parquet with a thump. A deafening thump. A thunderous thump. A thunderous thump that reverberated throughout the hallowed halls of the old Boston Garden. I was there in 1991 against the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. Boston led by ten after the first quarter, but the Pacers tied it at 58-all by halftime. Late in the second quarter, Bird crashed to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball. His head bounced hard off the parquet. He stayed down. Stayed down. Stayed down for what seemed like an eternity. Then he headed to the locker room. And just like last night, Boston gasped a collective gasp. Bird did not return with his teammates for the start of the third quarter. When he finally came through the tunnel in the third quarter, the Garden crowd erupted. It was electric. Boogie oogie oogie. Just like last night. Last night the garden crowd erupted as Paul Pierce buried back-to-back threes. Erupted as Pierce went for fifteen points in the third. Erupted as he went five-for-five from the field. Three-for-three from beyond the arc. Sticking dagger after dagger into the hearts of the Los Angeles Lakers. Just as Bird stuck dagger after dagger into the hearts of the Pacers. So you can Willis Reed me all you want. All I saw were shades of Bird.
Just kidding, how important is the next game with this 2-3-2 format, which by the way, I can't stand.
Enjoy the game sunday and I must say, if we can't win it, I'm glad KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray will. As you know, I am a huge KG fan, alway have been, always will be.
Larry (or Willis) wouldn't have been carried off without even trying to put weight on the knee, and the Celt's D really came on with Pierce in the locker room.
Then the big scoring after he returned, as the Lakers couldn't rotate fast enough to beat the celtics' ball movement. Nice to see he is OK!
You've given Pierce's injury more than appropriate context, Josh.
And great start for the Cs.
Now, if Kobe tries to get Game 1's loss back in one fell swoop by beign dominant in Game 2, he'll thrust his teammates right into Boston's defensive clutches.
If you were a pro athelete and you went down with an excruciating pain in your knee what would you think? Must have scared the hell out of him.
But remember, it was Pierce who insisted that he try putting weight on his knee before the medical staff wanted him too. If it had been left up to the medical people, he probably would not have gone back into the game at all.
Give he guy a little credit. Do you think he faked the injury? Why would he? This is the moment he has been dreaming of all his basketball life. That makes no sense.
If you have ever played any sport and tweaked your knee or had a stinger in the neck, you know it can be all but dehabiliting for a moment and then almost disappear.
If you have never had that happen to you, then you are lucky. Hell, i had it happen once just getting up off the couch. Thought for a moment I was going to have to call an ambulance, but a few minutes later, I was walking around like nothing had happened with just a little soreness in the knee.
Some people are way too quick to accuse an athelete of an acting job when they are hurt.
"Do you think he faked the injury? Why would he? This is the moment he has been dreaming of all his basketball life. That makes no sense."
Of course he faked it. And of course it makes total sense.
Pierce has been underappreciated his entire career. Think about it for a sec as far as image, publicity, legacy, and all that is concerned.
Pierce has never been in the limelight. He's even being overshadowed on his own team by Garnett.
Last night was his perfect chance to pull something off. And what better way than to do it at home, with your team trailing, and against the very team that proclaims itself to be dramatic and Hollywood.
He did it as a slap in the face to Los Angeles and Lakers fans. I bet they planned this all along.
But best believe this has fired up the Lakers. Phil Jackson, though pretty coy and reserved about it, has something up his sleeve and the Celtics won't like it. What Pierce and Boston did embarrassed the Lakers. Now to see what LA can do while faced with adversity and little bit of pressure.
I've strained my medial meniscus before. I was grabbing a rebound, landed wrong, and I heard that "pop" Pierce was talking about. Immediately after you hear your knee pop, it locks. Pierce was on the ground writhing in pain and was obviously flexing his knee. Again, when your knee locks you will have trouble flexing it back and forth. Pierce did it with ease.
His immediate reaction and the fact he was moving his leg back and forth was definitely not one you'd expect after your knee pops. A meniscus strain is a cartilage tear, which means you won't be able to jump off two feet, return to the game in less than three minutes, come out running the fast break and hit three pointers, and to top it all off get on a bike during timeouts (he really overdid it with that one)
And then it became even more obvious during the press conference when he was expaining what happened. A trained FBI/CIA/NSA agent or psychologist will tell you that his eyes weren't speaking of the truth.
It was all an act. And Boston fans will take advantage of it and make it seem greater than it really was.
But to the real observer, this one does not even compare to Reed or Bird. Pierce is a B-list actor.
Every injury is different. Your reasoning for why he would fake it is weak. Because he is under appreciated? Oh, please. This is a guy who has worked all his life to get into position to win a championship, and he is going to jeopardize this for the sake of a little notice? He does not need extra notice, he is in the freaking finals for God's sake. You do realize don't you that in the playoffs so far, he has been the Celtics' hero, no Garnett.
But he is going to go out of the game with his team holding onto a small lead? That just makes no sense at all. The timing is all wrong. If he was going to fake an injury, he would do it when his team was behind and needed an emotional lift, not when they were outplaying the Lakers.
And don't hand me that garbage about being able to tell by his eyes. Even trained observers have been proven wrong. And you are going to tell me that you could tell in a TV press conference? Come on.
I think you see what you want to see. Why you are so set on it being a fake I will never know. It is not like it made a big difference in the game anyway. If it was just a finals game, no one would be making such a fuss about it.
And no it was not a Willis Reed or a Bird moment. But then it is not Pierce who claimed that. It was announcers who are playing up all the "drama" they can, in hopes to justify all the hype this series got. Their biggest fear must be that it is not going to live up to its billing.
And everyone sees to have overlooked one little factor. Perkins was also hurt on that same play with a high ankle sprain. Is he also faking.
josh q. public. For the public, by The Public. Irreverent sports opinion from a Bostonian in New York. The one blog to read, when you’re reading more than one. Good to the last drop!
Pierce’s knee twisted and popped. Last night, Pierce contorted on the floor clutching his right leg. Last night, Boston gasped a collective gasp as Pierce’s teammates had to carry him off of the court. Everybody’s been comparing it to Willis Reed. Everbody’s been talking on air it to Willis Reed. Everybody’s been hot airing it to Willis Reed. I disagree. Mike Wilpon alluded to it. I was there. I was there where the real similarity took place. I was there when Larry Bird’s head bounced off the Parquet with a thump. A deafening thump. A thunderous thump. A thunderous thump that reverberated throughout the hallowed halls of the old 
Boston Garden. I was there in 1991 against the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. Boston led by ten after the first quarter, but the Pacers tied it at 58-all by halftime. Late in the second quarter, Bird crashed to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball. His head bounced hard off the parquet. He stayed down. Stayed down. Stayed down for what seemed like an eternity. Then he headed to the locker room. And just like last night, Boston gasped a collective gasp. Bird did not return with his teammates for the start of the third quarter. 
When he finally came through the tunnel in the third quarter, the Garden crowd erupted. It was electric. Boogie oogie oogie. Just like last night. Last night the garden crowd erupted as Paul Pierce buried back-to-back threes. Erupted as Pierce went for fifteen points in the third. Erupted as he went five-for-five from the field. Three-for-three from beyond the arc. Sticking dagger after dagger into the hearts of the Los Angeles Lakers. Just as Bird stuck dagger after dagger into the hearts of the Pacers. So you can Willis Reed me all you want. All I saw were shades of Bird.
