While the rivalries from the past two Isolation pieces have
been somewhat forced, (by the media in the case of Kobe and LeBron and by Danny
Granger in the case of Granger and LeBron) Paul Pierce and LeBron James have a
legitimate rivalry as documented in this ESPN piece.
Here is how the matchup went in Game 1.
First Quarter:
In the first quarter both players played the entirety of the
quarter in an attempt to set an early tone for the game. The Celtics quickly made it clear how they
were going to defend LeBron: on any pick and roll, LeBron’s defender (usually
Pierce) would not try to fight through the screen; the other defender would
switch, give LeBron a few feet of room, and hope he settled for a contested
jumper. For the most part this was
affective, as LeBron missed a few jumpers contested by taller players. However this did not stop LeBron from getting
his. He finished with 13 points, going
6/9 from the field and 2 assists. His 2
assists both led to easy buckets for Wade, a good sign that he and Wade are
playing with each other as opposed to alongside each other. Similarly, LeBron moved well off the ball to
get a few uncontested layups or dunks.
Pierce however, struggled from the field in the first
half. He finished 1/6 with 2 points, 1
steal and 1 assist. His assist did lead
to a very easy basket for The Steamer, but Pierce forced to many contested
shots. While LeBron guarded him, Pierce
went 0/3 on the quarter.
Second Quarter:
The second quarter went a lot better for Paul Pierce and the
Celtics. Pierce initially rested on the
bench before coming into the game at the 7:35 mark. He ended the quarter with 8 points, going 2/2
on 3-pointers and making an impressive layup guarded by LeBron. The correlation between the Celtics success
in the second quarter and Pierce’s are surely associated.
The second quarter was easily LeBron’s worst. He started off the quarter giving up a
rebound off of a missed FT to Kevin Garnett before allowing a reentry back to
KG and an easy jump hook. The best sign
from LeBron in this quarter was his jump hook over Pierce. When LeBron did post up throughout the game,
he was successful and it was nice to see him go to it while the Celtics made a
run.
Third Quarter:
The Heat and LeBron James fought off the Celtics’ counterpunch
and took control of the game for good in the third quarter. LeBron was highly efficient in this quarter;
all of his baskets were either scored driving to the hoop or posting up a
smaller defender
Pierce again disappointed, finishing the quarter 1/6 from
the field with 2 rebounds and 1 turnover.
His one basket came when James tried to front Pierce defensively,
allowing for a nice pass from Steimsma when James had no weak side help
defensively.
Fourth Quarter:
The fourth quarter was more of the same as LeBron banked and
taunted his way to victory. James was
also a beast on the boards finishing with 4 rebounds in the quarter. We’ll see if Pierce or Garnett responds to
LeBron’s late game laughter, but the fourth quarter only cemented who the best
player in the world is.
Recap:
Pierce put in a pretty poor performance (say that
fast five times). He finished with 12
points on 5/18 shooting, with 1 steal, 1 TO, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. LeBron’s box score makes Pierce’s look like a
dieting Nicole Richie in comparison. He
put up 32 points, going 13/22 from the field with 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1
steal, 3 TO’s, and 3 assists. Hopefully
the next games will be more competitive, between both the Celtics and the Heat,
and Paul Pierce and LBJ.
Winner:
LeBron James
Photo courtesy of Jim Davis/Boston Globe.
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