For the casual observer of Friday night's Game 6 of the Celtics-Hawks series, they would have a hard time telling which was the veteran team with a 66-win regular season and which team reached the playoffs with a meager .451 winning percentage. This was most apparent during the 4th quarter of the Hawks' 103-100 win.
Although the momentum was clearly with the Hawks, Celtics forward Paul Pierce fouling out with significant minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter marked the "end" of the game for his team. His sixth foul was a flukey call as he wrestled for position under the basket with Zaza Pachulia, but Pierce's response was the story of Game 6.
Rather than mentally stay in the game and continue to be a leader from the bench, he draped his head in a towel and sulked while looking like he knew the Celtics were going to lose. When Doc Rivers called time outs in the final minutes of the game, where was Pierce? At the end of the bench not listening to the coach or providing any support to his struggling team. Unless there's a compelling reason for Pierce just quitting on his teammates like that, I hope Rivers or Kevin Garnett or Ray Allen gave him the business after the game.
I'm not a Celtics or Hawks fan, but Pierce's actions were bush-league and inexcusable. Now, what do I think that means for Game 7? Pierce probably knows he shut it down near the end of Game 6 and he probably can't wait to get back on the floor because he has something to prove. I can't argue with his skills and obviously this has been his team for the past few years, but if Pierce really wants to win a Championship, then he can take lessons from the new leaders of this team: Garnett and Allen.
Baseball Jones ~~ Hustling since 1980
