statline :
41 points
4 rebounds
5 assists
2 steals
1 game 7 victory
LeBron James says we're all witnesses. Sunday's Game 7 duel wasn't exactly what he wanted you to see.
Kevin Garnett witnessed it; he couldn't believe what he saw on the box score. "It was get Paul Pierce the ball and get the hell out of the way," Garnett said, admiring the box score, oohing and ahhing over the lines posted by Pierce and James.
18,624 fans witnessed it at the TD Banknorth Garden and they couldn't believe what they saw in person.
Paul Pierce and LeBron James went head to head in Game 7 and staged a classic NBA duel.Steve Babineau/NBAE/Getty
LeBron James and Paul Pierce were witnessing it first person, and they had a brief conversation during the second half of Sunday's Game 7. According to James, the two wondered who would win, and then they agreed to put on a show.
"The fans came to see Paul Pierce and LeBron James play. Which guy is going to lead his team to victory?" James said he told Pierce during the 97-92 Celtics win Sunday afternoon in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. "They came to see us play, so let's give the fans something to remember."
Deal.
Sunday's Instant Classic was a treat to behold, as Pierce dropped 41 points and James returned fire with 45 of his own. At times they went basket-for-basket, and their stat lines read pretty similar throughout most of the game.
But only Pierce would get to play on and take the Celtics to a Conference Finals date with the Detroit Pistons.
"The thing with the playoffs is it is so stressful because you are on an emotional high then an emotional low every other day. You get a win, you go in feeling good about yourselves and you lose and it is like, what can you do to be better," Pierce said. "To end it on the that note and advance, our heads are high. Hopefully we can go into the next series and play a little bit better basketball on a consistent basis, especially on the road."
Despite being at home with the Garden faithful cheering him on, Pierce didn't get caught up in the drama, and really wasn't freelancing by any stretch, shooting 13 of 23 from the field and connecting on 11 of 12 free throws. Rather than getting gobbled up in double-teams when the Cavs trapped the pick and roll, Pierce broke contain by going outside off the trapping big man and often abused the ensuing mismatch, pulling up for midrange jumpers.
"I don't think I really forced too much. Maybe I had a couple rushed shots, but I just thought it was just my aggressiveness that led to the open shots that I was able to take. I took a number of 15-footers that I know I can make right there off the dribble so I thought it was well within the flow of the offense, the ball was just coming to me," said Pierce, who in addition to his midrange game, knocked down four of his six three-pointers. "I felt great and I was just letting it ride tonight."
Beyond the scoring, there was plenty of drama. Pierce went down hard just before the second half on a layup attempt, colliding with first the basket support and then a cameraman before careening into the press table. Slow to get up, Pierce went to the locker room before the half was over, but a quick rubdown on his left thigh during intermission had him back in action for the second half.
Pierce will make his second trip to the Conference Finals; he tag-teamed with Antoine Walker to bring an overachieving Celtics squad to the third round in 2002. James, who led his team past the Pistons in last year's Conference Finals, will head home for Cleveland, presumably to make a few more shoe commercials, and maybe even witness some NBA playoff games -- from the seats.
This was actually their second classic shootout; they staged a classic double-OT duel at the Garden back on February 15, 2006. Pierce had 50 in the losing effort while James' 43 was good enough for a 113-109 win. Meanwhile, James has said on numerous occasions that Pierce is one of his toughest opponents, putting him on the short list with Kobe Bryant in terms of footwork and overall basketball skills.
"Paul Pierce is one of my favorite players. As a fan, when I watch Paul Pierce, I love the way he plays the game of basketball," James said. "I love going against the best, and Paul Pierce is one of those guys. We both are trying to will our team to victory, and just like Dominique Wilkins, I ended up on the short end. The Celtics won again."
Garnett said he was looking forward to seeing today's game on ESPN Classic in the coming days, but both Pierce and James are students of the game and just general basketball junkies. They've seen the Game 7 Larry Bird- Dominique Wilkins shootout from the second round of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Heck, Pierce, 30, is old enough to probably have even watched that game on TV back in '88 when he loved -- gasp! -- Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers as kid growing up in Inglewood, CA.
But even if he didn't see it live, Pierce's seen the highlights enough, and since the epic Greatest Comeback in NBA History (Game 3) in the Conference Finals in 2002, this was Pierce's finest three hours. Doc Rivers, who played in that 1988 game alongside his teammate Wilkins, said it didn't dawn on him until the game was over that he was once again a part of history.
"I just said it in the hallway, it didn't hit me until the end. I'm slow. I was sitting there talking to the security guards and I said, 'Wow, I've been in Boston for two of the best Game 7's.' The difference was that I was on the right team this time," Rivers said. "Clearly, if you're going to be in a great game in Boston, it's probably smarter to be in green, you know what I'm saying? Now I know how they felt."
While Pierce just lived the duel himself, it probably hasn't sunk in just yet. But he's certainly up to speed on the Bird-Wilkins comparisons.
"I'm very aware of the game and they don't ever let you forget it when you look up to the jumbotron," Pierce said of the Bird-Wilkins shootout, before reflecting again on his historic performance. "I don't know, it's just one of those games where I had it going, LeBron had it going and we just didn't let up. Neither one of us wanted our teams to lose tonight, just to be a part of something like this and be on the winning side of it is a great feeling man."
He's got the night to enjoy it. Then it's time for the Pistons.
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