Paul Pierce saved his best for the last game of the year at the TD Garden.

In the final home game of the Boston Celtics' 2009-10 season, Paul unleashed his fury on the Lakers to the tune of a team-high 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds, dished two assists, and had two blocks in a crucial 92-86 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Paul shoots over Kobe Bryant en route to the win (Getty Images).

The win gave Boston a commanding 3-2 series lead heading back to LA.

"It was a good win," No. 34 said. "You don't want to go into LA down 3-2 with two games in LA. So this was the biggest game of the year. Every game gets bigger. It's a great opportunity for us. We have two games in LA. Just have to get one. I think we've been a great road team all year and we're just going to try to get it done."

Right from the start of Game 5, the Truth took control and proved to be just the spark the Cs needed.

Paul got his first score of the game less than a minute in when he took a Rajon Rondo pass from the right wing and cut to the basket for an up and under to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

From there, No. 34 went to work dissecting the Lakers via pull-up jumper. Paul buried three pull-ups over the course of the first, including an uncontested jumper with 30.2 seconds to go in the quarter to give Boston a 22-20 lead that they held through the end of the first.

He grabbed a breather in the second quarter, but The Truth returned and shortly thereafter nailed a wide-open three after shot-faking Pau Gasol into overcommitting. The trey erased a one-point Lakers lead and put the Celtics ahead 39-37. No. 34 added two more pullup jumpers and by halftime he had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

"I wanted to just be aggressive from the jump," he said. "Coach came out and ran the first play for me, coming off a pick and roll. I got a nice look. I just wanted to continue that throughout the rest of the game. My teammates did a good job of getting me open, setting picks but it was all in the team flow and that was great."

The overall solid play from The Truth was reminiscent of his play during the 2008 NBA Finals, in which he was named the Finals MVP. Paul was the only player to earn an A+ from Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, who graded the performance of each player in Game 5, as Mannix wrote:

"Pierce was simply spectacular. Faced with countless one-on-one situations with Ron Artest, Pierce dominated nearly every one of them. His jumper was working early (4 of 7 in the first quarter) and he had Artest and the Lakers on their heels all night. Vintage Pierce."

KOBE LEARNS THE TRUTH
Boston took a six-point lead into the halftime break, but No. 34 had a feeling they would need a lot more in the second half.

"We saw that we were shooting like 60 percent and they were shooting about 33 percent but we weren't satisfied with the way we played on the defensive end, rebounding," Paul said. "We gave up offensive rebounds and we fouled. Usually when you go in at halftime and look at the stats and you're shooting 60 percent, they're shooting 30 percent, usually you have a 10-15-point lead.

"You look up and we're only up six. That says something about the other things we weren't doing. We were playing well, shooting the ball well. Bur we didn't rebound well and we got them to the line too many times, that's why they were able to stay in the game for most of the game."

In the third quarter, Kobe Bryant tried to take it upon himself to bring the Lakers back. But the Celtics seemingly had an answer for every bucket. Bryant tallied 19 points in the quarter and knocked down each one of his first seven shots. But Boston countered strongly, scoring on nine of their first 10 possessions of the half.

Still Paul was impressed with what Bryant was able to do.

"Those were the toughest shots that I've ever seen somebody hit while I was on the court, The Truth said. "Everything was falling. He's shooting fadeaway threes, fadeaway jumpers from the double team. You knew he was going to come out and try to be aggressive, try to carry his team. He's a heck of a player. You have to expect that from him. He's going to come out and try to play his best game."

No. 34 said the key for the Celtics once Kobe started getting hot was to limit his teammates and the Celtics did a tremendous job of that, holding the rest of the Lakers to 18-51 (35.3 percent) from the field for the game.

"He was hitting those shots, which you respect, he's one of the greatest players to ever play in this game," Paul added. "But I thought we did a good job with the other guys, containing them, that's going to have to continue to happen. Kobe is the one guy that you probably can't stop in this league, but we feel like, these other guys, we can slow them down and almost shut them down. That gives us a great chance at winning."

While Bryant was burying every shot he took, Paul was on a roll of his own. The Truth scored 11 of his 27 points in that third quarter and did it in a variety of ways.

He started out, less than a minute in with a corner three. Minutes later he hit a step-back jumper over Ron Artest then on Boston's next possession, he drove past Artest to lay it in the bucket on the cut. He would later nail another three and another pull-up jumper as the Celtics moved to pull away.

But Paul said there was no duel between he and Bryant.

"I wasn't in a personal duel with him," The Truth said. "I really didn’t even take notice that we were going back and forth at the time. I'm out there trying to help my ballclub win. Kobe is doing what he does for his ballclub. He has to score the ball night in and night out. I'm not in the one-on-one deal with Kobe at all."

Still, ESPN.com's John Hollinger loved what he saw from the two.

"For you old-timers who lament the absence of the midrange jump shot, the show by Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant in Game 5 was a sight for sore eyes.

The MVPs of the past two Finals, and the presumptive favorites to win the award this time around, combined to score 65 points Sunday in Boston's 92-86 win over the Lakers, and did it with an epic display of old-school scoring. Bryant scored 38 points without a dunk or a layup, while Pierce's 27 included two chippies but no dunks, and he, like Bryant, scored the vast majority of his points from distance.

In fact, this was a vintage display of yesteryear scoring. Instead of watching the modern drive-and-kick game, we saw two savvy, polished scorers showing off all their tricks: midrange jumpers off the dribble, hesitation moves, up-and-unders and tough leaners in traffic."

Behind Bryant, LA gave Boston all they could handle in the fourth, but the Celtics held on for the six-point victory.

For more of Hollinger's take on the showdown, click here.

CATCH AND RELEASE
Despite The Truth's offensive explosiveness, it might be a game saving and possibly series-changing play in the final quarter that fans will remember most about Sunday.

As Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe wrote:

"In the fourth quarter, it won’t be Pierce’s 1 point that will be recalled in Celtics’ annals — it will be the stunning save of a Kevin Garnett inbounds pass near the sideline and flip to Rajon Rondo for a reverse layup, giving his team a 7-point lead with 35.2 left.

That was Pierce’s biggest contribution. The Celtics were toying with danger, going more than three minutes without a point and allowing Los Angeles to tally 7 straight to draw within 5. Kobe Bryant was salivating for his opportunity to steal the victory, but Pierce found a way to outstage him, delivering one of those intangible plays that has littered Celtics’ history."

Kevin Garnett stood to inbound near halfcourt and, as the seconds ticked away, he was forced into an all out heave down to the offensive end of the floor. No. 34 hauled the ball in near the sideline and did his best to stay in bounds before flinging the ball to a streaking Rajon Rondo cutting toward the paint.

Watch the play below:

The athleticism and anticipation as well as the skill to catch and release brought to mind another New England area team with a thing for championships, as Paul told the Boston Herald:

"I was just showing off my Randy Moss and my Tom Brady in one play, that’s all. The catch, going up to catch it [was Moss] and then I went into my Brady mode when I was falling out of bounds and found Rondo for the receiving end," Pierce said. "It was all instinctive...Kevin saw Derek Fisher was on me so he just threw it up. There were about 3 or 4 seconds before he got the violation and I just went up and caught it.

"But I lost my balance. I knew I was on the sideline falling out and I turned and saw Rondo streaking. I was just able to get it to him and he made a great play."

Doc Rivers marveled at The Truth's grace in making the play.

"Paul has said for years that he could play for the Patriots. Maybe we might have to believe him."

COMING UP BIG
With two consecutive wins over the Lakers, Paul and the C's find themselves in great position to add another banner to the rafters of the TD Garden.

In the past two contests, No. 34's presence has undoubtedly been felt, as Peter May of ESPN.com writes:

"And then there was the captain. At the time the Celtics need him most, Pierce is answering the call. In the last two games, he has averaged 23 points on 57.6 percent shooting after averaging 16.3 points on 36.1 percent shooting in the first three games, one of which deserves an asterisk for 'referee intrusion.' His Sunday submission was his highest output of the series.

"He was terrific,'' Rivers said of Pierce. "He attacked all night. He did it through the offense. He did it through [isolations]. He did it in pick and rolls. He made big shots for us. He has a great rhythm now and we need it."

In the past two games, each a must-win, Paul converted 19 of 33 shots for 46 points after scoring just 49 in the first three games. And now only one victory away, The Captain has the chance to do what few players have ever accomplished -- win an NBA title in his hometown:

"After 12 years, Pierce’s legacy in Boston is still unfinished. There are images of an aging Bill Russell brought to tears by Jack Twyman’s question following the 1969 NBA Finals win as he sat in the Inglewood Forum’s visiting locker room. Russell couldn’t explain the feeling of winning the title in his final game. His sweat was mixed with tears. Pierce could be headed for one of those moments. He needs one more sparkling effort, a few more elbow jumpers, and perhaps one of those intangible plays.

"No, it hasn’t crossed me the last 30 minutes, but it’s going to have to happen if we’re going to win the title," he said about winning in Los Angeles. ‘I mean, that would be great. I’m not going to try to jinx it right now."

NEXT UP
With a chance for an unprecedented 18th championship, Paul and the C's travel to the Staples Center to try to close out The NBA Finals in Game 6 on Tuesday.

Paul said the Celtics have plenty to learn after a Game 5 in which LA shot less than 40 percent from the field but only lost by six.

"But at the end of the day, we get the win and that's the most important thing," he said. "We have to win one game. That's the goal. It would be amazing if we could get it done."

Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on ABC.

RELATED STORIES
Pierce fought with desire (Boston Globe, June 14, 2010)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/06/14/pier...
Group effort (Boston Globe, June 14, 2010)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/06/14/grou...
Pierce's impact felt far and wide (ESPN.com, June 14, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?id=5283483
The duel: Pierce against Bryant (ESPN.com, June 14, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=pie...
Celtics one win away from 18th banner (Boston Herald, June 14, 2010)
http://bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?&articleid=126...
NBA Finals Report Card: Game 5 (Sports Illustrated, June 13, 2010)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/chris_mannix/06/13/game5.g...
Balanced Celtics take Pierce's cue, wear down Lakers in Game 5 win (Sports Illustrated, June 14, 2010)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/lee_jenkins/06/13/lakers.c...

• Add new comment