Pierce can't slow down Carmelo Anthony, can't take advantage of Raymond Felton, and can't help the Boston Celtics as they stagger toward completing one of the worst offensive series of all-time.
BOSTON – If this is how stars fade to black, the galaxies should show more mercy.
It isn't that Paul Pierce has contributed nothing during Boston's first three games with New York, just that everything he provides requires a level of work and struggle we didn't expect when this series began – or ever, out of No. 34.
He's averaging 18.7 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds – so again, he's done a lot more than nothing. But he's also 2-16 from 3-point range with 16 turnovers, some coming when Iman Shumpert apparently decides: Well, I think it'd be cool to just take the basketball straight out of Pierce's hands right now.
Pierce can't slow down Carmelo Anthony, can't take advantage of Raymond Felton, and can't help the Boston Celtics as they stagger toward completing one of the worst offensive series of all-time. The Celtics are down 3-0, one loss away from broomsticks, which would be the team's initial first-round exit of the Kevin Garnett era. The last time Boston was swept, by the Indiana Pacers in 2004, Pierce started alongside Jiri Welsch, Walter McCarty, Chucky Atkins and Mark Blount.
"Definitely surprised," he said Friday night after posting 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and five turnovers in a 90-76 Game 3 loss. "I thought we were a team that matched up well with the Knicks, I thought we played them pretty good throughout the season. We lost a couple close ones, but I didn't expect us – coming in, I knew this would probably be a long series, being that the way we matched up. I really am surprised that we are down 0-3 right now."
Surprised doesn't begin to describe how we feel, seeing Pierce – the king of herky-jerky, the master of mismatch, the sultan of smaller guard crushers, the architect of so many beautiful moments in Celtics history – look so curiously flawed and incapable. If Pierce were Anthony's father, he might have clutched his leg with pretend cramps, quit before the painful end and kept alive an unblemished postseason record against his son.
Pierce has a reputation for rising and meeting challenges. He always seemed to like playing at Madison Square Garden, at least before suffering two straight ugly defeats there earlier in the series. He and Kevin Garnett were expected to remain rocks for Boston even while their teammates drifted up and down in the playoff winds.
"I don't mind the pressure on Paul, honestly. I want to take pressure off a couple other guys. There are some guys that just, we're asking them to do things they can't do. And we have to relieve the pressure from them. Paul actually likes pressure," said Rivers. "He doesn't mind. Carmelo – they don't mind. That's what they do. That's why they make all that money."
He's certainly earned plenty of cash, but after the lopsided defeat Pierce sounded like someone stuck his head in a toilet and made off with all his loot. Which, now that I think of it, sounds a lot like what actually occurred. Pierce was 2-10 at halftime, finished 6-15 and still has almost as many turnovers (16) as made field goals (20) for the series. After a strikingly inefficient 2012 postseason – which we overlooked because, heck, he played with a sprained MCL – Pierce has been no better this spring.
"It was tough because it was like you try to make a run, and then they make a big 3," he said. "Then you miss wide open shots or miss a layup, and then they make a tough basket. You get yourself in those situations, it gets tougher. You look at each other, you look down.
"Some guys lose their confidence in what we're trying to do, but you have to stick with it and understand it's hard. Winning's not easy, it's going to be difficult. The playoffs are hard to win in, and we have to figure out a way to grind through."
The grind didn't used to provide so much difficulty, at least for Pierce.
"We put ourselves in this situation," he said, "and we're the only ones who can get us out of it."
Once upon a time, he could have been relied upon at least to lead a fierce challenge. Maybe his star can flicker back to life.