Paul Pierce Leads One Of The Greatest NBA Comebacks Ever

At some point in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 91-83 win in Orlando – it might’ve been after another one of his threes or perhaps when he had a behind-the-back assist to Brandon Bass or even when he hit a technical free throw – we sat back and realized, “Damn, Boston is really going to win this thing,” and they did it because Paul Pierce turned back the clock with one of the most incredible comebacks we’ve ever seen. Early in the fourth quarter, Pierce had banged two straight threes and then hit a pull-up in the lane and suddenly it was a four-point game. The Captain was doing everything, and even had a couple of blocked shots. Soon, everything unraveled for Orlando, losing it emotionally and blowing what was a 27-point lead to Pierce’s 24 points and 10 assists. Embarrassing to watch. The Magic scored 25 points in the entire second half, and started handing out technicals like they were candy once they realized the game was a wrap … E’Twaun Moore was the X-factor, missing one shot on his way to scoring 16 points … Did we just forget about Mickael Pietrus (12 points) these last few years or is he having sort of a renaissance in Boston? He had two threes and a J within the first few minutes of the game and had us reminiscing on the 2009 Playoffs when that dude was banging from everywhere and shutting down every big-name player he went up against … The Celtics might’ve looked like a random group of guys thrown together in the park during the first half, but they can still play defense. At one point near the end of the first half, on one possession, they blocked Jason Richardson‘s shot then chased three different guys off open jumpers, and then finally contested a J-Rich three from about 26 feet out. As the story of the first quarter went (Orlando was up 32-16 after 12 minutes), the shot still dropped. It was so bad in the first half, even Jameer Nelson was dropping threes, everyone on the Magic bench was doing all sorts of Dirty Dancing and the score was 52-25. Austin Rivers was tweeting, asking his dad to put him in, and without Dwight Howard (ended up with 16 points and 16 rebounds) making a big impact, the Magic were still setting up shop in the lane and vacating any potential rebounder out of the arena in grabbing 22 of the game’s first 32 rebounds … Nelson even got a little revenge for the stolen manhood Avery Bradley took from him the other night in Boston. Nelson knocked an inbounds pass off Bradley’s leg after a bucket. He stills owes the Celtic two more backcourt turnovers though … Speaking of the defensive ace, we can’t watch too many more Bradley jumpers. That thing is so ugly, he probably loses in H-O-R-S-E during practice to Rondo. He’s done a decent job of replacing Tony Allen‘s line drive, chuck-from-the-shoulder shot of back in the day. It’s bothersome just because – exactly as TA – Bradley could actually be pretty good if he’d develop anything outside of three feet … “The Czar of the Telestrator” is still one of the greatest nicknames ever, just ahead of “He Hate Me,” the “Purple People Eaters” and of course “Bad Porn” … How far is Shaq going to take this “Dwight stole my nickname!” crap? First he’s crying out about Big Baby being the best big man in Orlando, and then he’s yelling Ryan Anderson is the best player wearing a Magic uniform. We know he’s joking but still … Instead of spending 600-plus words on this game, we could’ve simplified it all to this KG interview … Keep reading to hear about the wild Grizzlies and Clippers game …

It wasn’t always pretty, but damn it was entertaining. On a night that played out like a badly-referred intramural game, it was the Clippers’ execution down the stretch that helped serve Memphis their second-straight L. Chris Paul (18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) orchestrated the sets to a perfection, hit shots, made steals and banged the free throws L.A. needed. Blake Griffin had an up-and-down night (20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists), and the unsung hero was Mo Williams. Williams (18 points, four steals) was on fire in the second half, hitting pull-ups all over the place as the Grizz continuously (and stupidly) left him open. It was a game of runs early. As quickly as the Clippers jumped out by 16 – Lionel Hollins blamed it on Los Angeles and everyone wanting to show out – the Grizzlies got right back into it. After a first quarter that included four early threes from L.A., including a corner four-point play from Paul, and also a half-court make from Rudy Gay, halfway through the second quarter L.A. already had 12 turnovers and Memphis had re-emerged with the lead. That’s what happens when you have Solomon Jones and Reggie Evans playing catch 20 feet from the hoop … The next time Memphis goes and puts Gay (24 points) on Blake Griffin, we’d better see Quake down on the block eating him for dinner. There’s no way the Grizz should’ve been able to get away with that, and they did it the majority of the night. Here’s Griffin’s post game: catch, dribble twice between the legs, take one dribble to back down, spin uncontrollably to one side and then just jump and throw up an off-balance shot. It wasn’t until a spurt in the second half did Griffin finally figure it out, drop-step spinning off Gay twice for buckets. Come back next year with a post game, Blake. No 6-8 small forwards should be able to check you … Who caught Rudy Gay’s shoes last night? They looked like something Lady Gaga would wear. We looked them up too: They are Christian Louboutins and feature zebra fur and a mixture of Earth tones, not to mention the heinous spikes. This is what happens when you give your guys $80 million extensions… they go out and get sneakers with spikes and “earth tones.” Next time we see Rudy, we’re having a talk about this … Remember a week or so ago when we said Utah wore toilet-colored uniforms that would end up at Marshalls within six months? Well, Marshalls probably wouldn’t even accept Memphis’ throwbacks last night because they were so bad. They were so bad even Craig Sager was probably embarrassed … And check out Sean Sweeney‘s list of the top 10 plays of Penny Hardaway‘s career … We’re out like throwbacks.