Will Pierce be OK?
The biggest question on the minds of Celtics fans this morning is undoubtedly the status of Paul Pierce’s injured knee.
After the game last night, Pierce took a wait-and-see approach when asked about his availability for Game 2 of the NBA Finals,
“We'll see,” he said. “I mean, it's in pain. I was able to get through tonight. I don't know if it was off adrenaline or what, but got through it.”
Celtics coach Doc Rivers this morning in an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI took a similar tact, saying it would depend on how Pierce was feeling after waking up this morning. We should find out more information early this afternoon, when the Celtics meet the media.
We found one report on ESPN.com late last night that didn’t seem to contain much good news. Here’s an excerpt from Chris Sheridan, who caught Pierce as he was walking to his car after last night’s game:
After the game, Pierce was walking with a pronounced limp as he exited the postgame interview room and headed back to the locker room, but some 45 minutes later the injury was clearly bothering him more.
As he walked to his car, Pierce was still wearing his warm-ups. The snaps along the right side were hanging open, revealing a wrapping of several ace bandages from the bottom of his calf to the top of his thigh, an additional layer of white tape wrapped around the lower half of his hamstring, ending just above his knee.
Pierce's feet moved no more than 12 inches with each step, and as you watched him begin to navigate the four flights of stairs from the locker room level to the players' parking lot, you couldn't help but wonder exactly how much adrenalin had fueled his comeback. The knee injury could also keep him out of Game 2 or, at the very least, reduce his effectiveness.
Stay tuned.
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Perkins, what an idiot! He could cost the Celtics a championship!
Lakers in 6
If Celts win game 2 Lakers are TOAST
Lakers will be back!
I don't think it was Perk's fault. They were both following the ball. Many Celtics have to stop making stupid passes, or when they are dribbling all over the place (Sam Cassell) they have to pass the ball. Can you say, ball movement? And if you have a wide open look, shoot. This is the playoffs. The team that plays best will win, with or without Paul. You're not going to win The Finals shooting threes. LOTS of stupid mistakes last nite. I was yelling at the TV.
Pierce was a monster last night. Just hope he can make it through the next game. Gotta be thankful for the longer rest periods during the finals.
This reminds me of Bynum's knee injury from the collision with Odom. Celtics got lucky in that perspective.
Lakers in 6 baby!!
Pierce tore his medial meniscus. I did exactly the same thing a number of years ago, and felt precisely as Pierce described afterward. He will play in pain, but won't be able to drive to his left. Look for a lot of drives to the right and pull up fallaway jumpers - thankfully, this is his best shot. He will be in pain after every game, with a lot of swelling. Every time he rests, it will start to swell, so watch for him to play a lot of minutes and be on the bike when he isn't on the floor. He'll have minor surgery after the finals, and will be fine next year.
Luckily, the Celtics only have one game in a span of 4 days. Pierce will be ready for game 3 Tuesday at the latest.
No wonder he was limping and not moving his feet more then 12 inches...HIS LEG WAY WRAPPED FROM THE TOP OF HIS CALF TO HIS THIGH. Go and wrap your leg real tight and then see how well you move. Bang up reporting Sheridon.
Perkins is a stiff. This kind of thing happens when you have stiffs lumbering around. It just happened to happen to a Celt. I say make Perkins play 48 minutes next game and have him do the same to Pau.
David , get a life! Like it was intentional.
Great news! Thanks for handing the championship to the Lakers Pierce!
David don't be a jackass. I'm sure Perkins didn't wake up and say "I'm going to bang into Paul's knee today."
Who are these idiots who posted here?
The Fakers cant cope w/ this Celtics Defense. pressures on them.
Who are these idiots who posted here?
The Fakers cant cope w/ this Celtics Defense. pressures on them.
similar "tact" -- what does that mean? -- tell me all about tact
or is it that sportwriters take pride in being illiterate?
It's alot more quiet in here today. Guess Lakers fans are having a little slice of humble pie? Still saying Lakers in 6 huh? In case you didn't notice they lost last night. Not off to a very good start. Get well soon Pierce.
Pierce wants this championship more than anything... The only way that he is not playing is if they cut of the leg, and even with that it isn't certain he wouldn't try to play!
wow...this guy Pierce must have thought it was still the regular season 2 years ago, so he faked an injury to get off the floor, then remembered this was the finals and ran back out with his little walgreens neoprene sleeve..its a put on, a sham an embarassment to all the players who gut through minor tweaks all year long...
This is like pro wrestling stuff and the league should look into it....what a freakin' sissy and for ABC to compare this to Willis Reed with a torn up knee playing in a game 7 and inspiring his troops - thats just awful and he (Jackson of ABC) should be sent to basketball hell for making the comparison...
suck it up peirce. few more games and relax in cancun with a ring. kobe is overrated!
The media that is questioning if Paul was really hurt are just complete morons. Yes that means you Goodman and Platske. THe dope Plastke actually said this injury was something planned by the Celtics.
"took a similar tact"??? come on, spell checker is not going to catch word choice problems.
Aww, Paulie-waulie got a boo boo on his widdle knee. Please, this is pure BS. He'll play Sunday with a built-in excuse if he chokes. My knee! My knee!
YOU HAVE TO LOVE THE IDIOTS BLOGGING ON THIS SITE JUST SAYING LAKERS IN 6 OR LAKERS IN 7. LAKERS ARE HEADED BY A RAPIST WIFE CHEATING IMATURE IDIOT....YEAH HE CAN SCORE BUT A LEADER OR GOOD PERSON HE IS NOT.
LAKERS ARE LUCKY THEY PLAY IN THE WEST - THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEATEN DETROIT OR CLEVELAND WHO ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO THE LAKERS.
BOSTON IN 5 (WITH OR WITH OUT PIERCE).
LA HAS A CRUMMY SPORTS SCENE....CLIPPERS, KINGS, ANGELS, (POST SEASON FLOPPERS)RAIDERS(PRO FOOTBALL TEAM OR PEE WEE??) ENJOY YOUR TRIP TO THE FINALS WITH THE LAKERS THAT IS ABOUT ALL THE GOOD NEWS YOU WILL HAVE THIS YEAR.
Pierce will probably play, but I suspect it will hinder his ability to penetrate....he probably will become much more of an outside threat...this probably will mean the Lakers will stop doubling him and just play him man up very close to bother the outside shot.
Like Paul Pierce lets a little thing like a knee twist keep him down! Curt Schilling would never let him for get it.
Two days, lots of ice, ibuprofen. No worries!
if he actually tore his meniscus and plays through the finals, he is unlikely to be "fine next year." his meniscus will be toast. but he may have done in more than just the medial meniscus. i don't understand why we aren't hearing about any mri results. i wonder if they are intentionally avoiding it so as to not get into pierce's head in the event that his injury is more severe than he currently believes.
Bart, how would Pierce be handing the championship to the Lakers? You're obviously incompetent and he will play in Game 2...Celtics in 6
God, it kills me every time I see this in a newspaper: the word is "tack," not "tact."
"Tact" is a word, yes. But not the correct one here.
HoraceMonoor -- you do realize tact is a word and was used correctly...right?
ok, so Perk sees the Laker take a 15 ft baseline shot and decides that, even tho he's 7-8 ft away and behind Pierce, that he will jump as high as he can and try to block the jumpshot. Did he see that Pierce was guarding the Laker? Shouldn't Perk have turned and looked to block out some one on the boards for the rebound? Perk, don't you know you can't block someone's jumpshot from 8 ft away? Didn't you see Pierce in front of you as you squashed him? Please do not plunder your own team mate. Did you even realize you landed on him? sadly, that's the problem, you should have been under the boards getting a potential rebound.
HYMIE RODRIGUIEZ that name sounds like you would be a Boston fan, what kind of Latino are you? It's Jaime........Lakers will prevail no problem.....
the fact that people could even suggest that pierce faked this injury and the celtics planned it is outrageous...like the celts would risk injury to their captain just for an emotional boost in game 1...pierce sucked it up, came back, and led the C's to victory while the lakers got bitched on the glass, in the physicality department, and couldn't make a shot to save their collective life...it doesn't matter if pierce plays or not, if the lakers put forth three more cupcake performances like that (gasol especially, the guy's about as tough as a sponge) they'll be watching the celts hoist the obrien trophy
Something for the Laker fans...
N-e-s-t-l-e-s...Nestles makes the very beeeeeestttttttt...Sorry!
Looks like the Lakers fans are putting the "ass" back in "classy".
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