At Age 37, Paul Pierce Still the Truth in the NBA Playoffs
It’s Paul Pierce’s favorite time of the year: The NBA Playoffs.
The 37-year-old former Celtics star employed the best of his “old-man game’’ to lead the Washington Wizards to a 93-86 Game 1 overtime road victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday afternoon. The Truth scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added four rebounds in 37 minutes. He hit four 3-pointers, including one to open the overtime session. In contrast to Pierce’s efficiency, the Wizards’ young backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal combined to shoot just 10-of-40 from the floor.
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Pierce, who knocked the Raptors out of the playoffs in the first-round last year with last-minute shot in Game 7 as member of the Brooklyn Nets, had some choice things to say about Toronto in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan earlier in the week. He declared that the Raptors “dont have the ‘it’ that makes you worried.’’ Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri didn’t take kindly to Pierce’s remarks, tossing around a little NSFW language in a fan rally prior to the start of Saturday’s game.
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For his part, Pierce didn’t seem terribly concerned with Ujiri’s feelings.
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With Pierce in a postseason form familar to fans in Boston, the playoffs are on.
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