BOSTON — This was the stuff of legends.
In a Larry Bird-like performance, captain Paul Pierce willed the Celtics past the Los Angeles Lakers, 98-88, last night in the long-awaited Game 1 of the best-of-seven NBA championship series.
Pierce had opened the second half with eight quick points, including a rare four-point play, and two assists. He almost single-handedly turned a three-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead in just 21/2 minutes.
Soon after, a hush fell over the raucous crowd of 18,624 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Pierce was lying on the floor, writhing in pain following a collision with teammate Kendrick Perkins.
Pierce was helped up by teammates and was immediately escorted to the Celtics locker room with a trainer following him.
It didn't look good. The buzz was, could he be done for the game or even the series?
Veteran fans had seen it before.
Flash back to the second quarter of Game 5 of the Celtics' 1991 first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. Then-Celtics captain Larry Bird lost the ball and fearlessly dove after it, crashing face-first onto the Boston Garden parquet with a sickening thud.
It was ugly. A hushed Garden crowd watched as Bird was taken to the locker room.
In the third quarter, Bird came up the ramp to the court and upon seeing him the crowd went berserk.
Bird scored 32 points for the game, leading Boston to victory. And leaving Celtics and NBA fans with a memory they'll never forget.
Similarly, last night, less than two minutes after leaving, Pierce made the same trek from the locker room, through the tunnel behind the Celtics bench, earning a Bird-like standing ovation.
After a quick conference with Celtics coach Doc Rivers, Pierce went right to the scorer's table and back into the game with the Celtics still ahead, 63-62.
Pierce saved his best Bird imitation for later in the quarter, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers only 21 seconds apart to put the Celtics ahead for good, 75-71.
Pierce wasn't done. He made a pair of fourth-quarter free throws and a jump shot to finish with 18 points, which seemed more like 32. More importantly, the achy Celtics leader scored 15 points in the second half.
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