Paul Pierce Calls His Brooklyn Nets A “Soft Team” After Game 2 Loss

The Raptors rebounded — literally and figuratively — from their Game 1 loss at home and defeated the Nets 100-95 at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday. Brooklyn’s cagey veteran Paul Pierce appeared to have turned the tables on the Raptors for the second straight game in the fourth after back-to-back three-point plays. But the Raptors out-rebounded Brooklyn, 52-30, and Pierce missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute. The late miss didn’t stop The Truth from saying after the game the Nets played like a “soft team.”

Via ESPN New York

“I thought guys stuck to their man individually for the most part and didn’t help one another and that is the big part of our defense,” Pierce said. “Sink and shrinking the floor, locking down the paint, tonight too many touches for them in the paint, too many paint points, and we didn’t rebound.

“We gave them everything they wanted, 50 points in the paint, and [19] offensive rebounds,” Pierce added. “We were a soft team tonight.”

There is a measure of truth to Pierce’s statement, though the word choice seems strong for coming so close to getting two road wins to open the series. The Nets were out-rebounded badly and gave up a number offensive rebounds in the paint.

Center Jonas Valanciunas and power forward Amir Johnson combined to shoot 13-of-19 from the floor (Amir was 8-of-10) with 23 rebounds between them. The Raptors shot 12-of-16 in the fourth and scored 36 points, including 17 by DeMar DeRozan to cap off his fantastic night.

But Pierce himself had a chance to take the lead for the Nets, down 92-90, with a good look at a three-pointer in the near corner and just 24.9 seconds remaining. The ball rimmed out as it did so often for Pierce on a night when he was without a field goal until the fourth and just 2-for-11 on the game.

Pierce’s poor shooting came just a day after saying you can’t buy his clutch gene at “Costco or Walgreens” following his nine fourth-quarter points to close out Game 1 with a Brooklyn win in Toronto.

But while Pierce appears to be making excuses for his shooting at the end, the younger Raptors manhandled the Nets on the offensive glass, something to watch for when the two teams meet again in Game 3 on Friday at the Barclays Center.

(ESPN New York)

Do you agree with Pierce?

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