'That's Why I'm Here!': Pierce's Clutch 3s Put Wizards One Win From East Semifinals

            Scoreless after the first quarter and just seven points tallied heading into the final frame, it appeared Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce was heading towards a quiet night.

            The 37-year-old, who has built a reputation in his storied career for thriving in the biggest moments of the postseason, checked in with 6:48 remaining in Game 3 and promptly hit a 3-pointer in his first possession of the fourth quarter, giving the Wizards a four-point lead against a Toronto Raptors squad in full-on desperation mode after dropping the first two contests of the series north of the border.

            Pierce, a former NBA Finals MVP for the Boston Celtics and a long-time Raptors' kryptonite, delivered a clutch 3-pointer with 1:58 to go on a pass from center Marcin Gortat, who posted team highs in points (24) and rebounds (13) to go along with five assists.

Paul Pierce. Dagger. Of course. Truth hurts. https://t.co/u4HRTk3udk
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) April 25, 2015

            The Raptors clawed back to within three with 40 seconds left after two jumpers (one from behind the arc) by Kyle Lowry, who labored through his third straight playoff dud (shooting 5-of-22 from the field) despite a late scoring burst at the tail end of the contest. With a 102-99 score, Pierce set a fake screen on Raptors forward Terrence Ross to allow himself space to pop out to the 3-point line. Off a pass from point guard John Wall—who added 19 points, 15 assists and five rebounds—Pierce delivered his signature pump fake that sent Toronto’s Patrick Patterson flying past him and then drilled the dagger from behind the arc as the shot clock expired.  Sending the sold-out crowd at Verizon Center into a frenzy, Pierce strutted across the court toward the other basket following Toronto's timeout.

            “That's why I’m here,” the future Hall of Famer declared multiple times to the Wizards faithful.

            The Raptors heard him utter those exact words in Game 1 of the Brooklyn-Toronto 2014 first-round playoff series after Pierce—then a member of the Nets—came up huge down the stretch of Brooklyn’s win at Air Canada Centre.

            Pierce tormented the Raptors in the playoffs last year and is doing it again in the 2015 postseason as the emotional leader of the young, uprising Wizards. Before the series began, he ruffled some Canadian feathers by declaring the Raptors lack the “it” factor necessary to win in the postseason. The Wizards forward backed up his trash-talk in the team’s Game 1 road win in overtime. Pierce finished with a game-high 20 points on a remarkably efficient 7-of-10 shooting performance. He began the scoring for the Wizards in the extra session by hitting a back-breaking three, and ended it by helping to seal the victory with a pair of free throws.

            Fast-forward to Friday night as the Raptors again fell prey to Pierce and his late-game shot-making ability. Pierce, who had another efficient evening (5-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point territory), pushed the Wizards to a 3-0 series advantage—the first time in franchise history Washington has led a best-of-seven series three games to nothing.

            "I love playoff basketball," Pierce said following the Game 3 victory. "I love everything about it. I love the crowds on the road, I love it at home."      

            Pierce has averaged 16.0 points per game this series, despite attempting less than nine shots per contest.  In addition to shooting 53.8 percent from the field, he has converted an incredulous 55.6 percent of his 3-point shots.

Pierce hollers, "That's why I'm here," after hitting Game 3's dagger. (Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports)

            “The Truth” was honest about why he's enjoying this postseason so much.

            "Right now I don't know how many more I have left," Pierce said. "I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so that appreciation goes up.”

            The light at the end of the Raptors’ 2015 postseason is also fast approaching thanks to Pierce. A year after his series-saving block in Game 7, Pierce has seemingly put the Raptors to rest yet again. In order to advance, Toronto must come back from a 3-0 series deficit—something no team has done in NBA history.

Celtics Aim for Greatest Upset in Sports History in First-Round Series vs. Cavs

                It’s virtually impossible not to root for these Boston Celtics. Less than two years after trading future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in an effort to rebuild with young talent, the Celtics are headed back to the postseason after just a one-year hiatus.

            The 2014-15 season was presumed kaput after the Celtics dealt point guard Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks—waving goodbye to the final piece of their 2008 NBA championship team and an integral player of their 2010 Eastern Conference championship squad. The Celtics were 9-14 at the time of the move. They would lose nine of their next 12 contests before the team shipped Jeff Green—the purported best player on the roster following the Rondo deal—to the Memphis Grizzlies. All hope seemed lost and talk of tanking for a lottery pick amplified. It was supposedly a forgone conclusion the Celtics would be watching the playoffs from their couches for a second straight year.

The Rajon Rondo trade did not sit well with Celtics fans at first. (AP/G.J. McCarthy)

            But something magical occurred after the Celtics traded Green. Spearheaded by head coach Brad Stevens, the Celtics rallied around one another and started playing spirited team basketball and along the way victories materialized. Then came the trade deadline deal for sparkplug Isaiah Thomas, the small-statured guard who the Celtics acquired from Phoenix. Behind Thomas—a legit candidate for sixth man of the year—the Celtics embarked on an improbable push to the postseason that became a reality following the Brooklyn Nets’ blowout loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

            The Celtics are 27-19 since the Green trade and stand at 39-42 overall with the season-finale slated for Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. An even more welcoming sight for the Celtics—they are 15-6 with Thomas in the lineup. And the most telling stat of all in Boston’s turnaround: the team has posted the second-best record in the Eastern Conference since Feb. 2, with only the Cleveland Cavaliers recording a better winning percentage in that time span.

            Speaking of the Cavs, the Celtics are set to duel LeBron James and Co. in the first-round of the 2015 playoffs. The matchup was clinched following the Celtics’ thrilling 95-93 win over the playoff-bound Toronto Raptors. The victory was highlighted by a game-winning jumper with .8 seconds left from Jae Crowder—the key cog acquired in the Rondo deal that appeared profoundly lopsided in the Mavs’ favor at the time of the exchange. In hitting that ridiculous fall-away jump shot from the right corner, Crowder and the C’s made sure they would play the star-studded Cavs when the playoffs open this weekend.

            The Cavaliers will be the favorites versus the upstart Celtics. Heavy favorites. With a Big Three of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers begin the postseason as the Las Vegas favorites to win the title. And why not? The team has been rolling ever since the midseason trades that brought J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov to the championship-starved city of Cleveland. Smith has become a three-point machine for the Cavs, who can space the court better than any team in the East. Shumpert has become a key bench player, thriving in perimeter defense and adding the occasional trey when called upon. Mozgov, meanwhile, has provided the Cavs a much-needed rim protector and a solid finisher in the paint who has corralled seven rebounds per contest since his arrival.

            By looking at the starting lineups’ head-to-head matchups, it’s easy to see why the Cavs are expected to cruise right past the young and experienced Celtics. The Celtics can’t come close to measuring up in the forward battles. James versus Evan Turner and Love against Brandon Bass are unfair fights, to put it gently. At center, Mozgov is more of a force in the middle currently than Tyler Zeller, albeit the former University of North Carolina standout has excelled in his first year in Boston. Irving, a three-time All-Star and the 2012 Rookie of the Year, has the clear advantage over defensive-minded rookie Marcus Smart at point guard. The only matchup that one can argue favors the Celtics lies at shooting guard, where Avery Bradley goes up against Smith. Bradley, an improved mid-range jump shooter and one of the elite perimeter defenders in the league, has a much better overall game than Smith. But keep in mind, Smith is playing in an ideal role for his talents. Smith won’t spend much time inside the three-point line as the offense only calls for his services as an outside shooter, meaning he can save more energy on the defensive side.

            How big of underdogs will the Celtics be, given all these one-sided matchups among the starters? Even with a clear advantage in coaching for Boston as Stevens has done a much better job than David Blatt (in terms of wins/expectations) with less talent, it will be hard-pressed to find experts predicting a series that lasts longer than five games. In actuality, most pundits are likely to forecast a Cavs sweep over the Celtics, who even after winning seven of their last eight, remain under .500 before their Wednesday night tilt in Milwaukee.

            The C’s chances in this series may as well be one in a million. Yes, cue the famous Lloyd Christmas line from Dumb and Dumber.

             A series-victory over the Cavs would not just be the greatest stunner in NBA playoff history, but rather the greatest upset in sports history. It would top the feat by Appalachian State of the FCS (formerly Division 1-AA), who conquered previously No. 5 ranked Michigan at the Big House in 2007. It would be a bigger upset than the New York Giants’ victory over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. And it would even triumph the ‘Miracle on Ice’ that featured United States amateur and collegiate hockey players defeat the Soviet Union—who consisted of military players (thus making them non-professionals in hockey and eligible for the Olympics) that in reality practiced yearlong together—in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

            How could the Celtics eliminating the Cavs be a greater magnitude of an upset than the ‘Miracle on Ice’? Two reasons. One, Boston was a supposed bottom-five team in the NBA before the year started. ESPN’s Fall Forecast had the Celtics going 26-56, Bleacher Report projected a 21-61 season, while no CBS Sports expert predicted the Celtics to win more than 27 games. And keep in mind, those predictions came before Rondo and Green, Boston’s expected two core players for the impending season, were traded. Second of all, this is a best-of-seven series, meaning the Celtics have to defeat the Cavs four separate times to advance. No disrespect to the heroics of Appalachian State, the Giants or the U.S. men’s hockey squad, but it would be hard to envision any of those teams achieving their respective upsets in a best-of-seven setup.

            My prediction: Cavs in five. And bear in mind, my forecast is partially clouded by my rooting interest. As a Celtics fan, I would be thrilled to see a long series, but it just doesn't seem physically possible. But the Celtics have proven me wrong all season. Maybe they could do it one last time. Again, Lloyd Christmas mentality for Celtics Nation.

Celtics Defeat Pistons as Isaiah Thomas Makes His Case for Sixth Man of The Year

            NBA fans across the nation got their first chance to see Isaiah Thomas in a Boston Celtics uniform on Wednesday night and the 5-foot-9-inch guard delivered in a huge way. Behind a season-high 34 points from their illustrious reserve, the Celtics won their first nationally televised game of the season 113-103 over the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Thomas has now posted 20 points or more in 11 of the 18 games he has played with Boston. The Celtics are 12-6 with Thomas in the lineup.

            Thomas went 10 for 17 from the floor, connecting on four of his eight treys. He made 10 of his 11 free throws and posted an otherworldly plus-35 point differential in 30 minutes of action. The Celtics’ reserves dominated their counterparts, outscoring them 73-31. Jae Crowder had 17 points with six rebounds off the bench and Kelly Olynnk added 12 points and four rebounds in a reserve role.

             Boston engineered an 18-0 run to finish the first quarter with their starters off the floor. Thomas led that scoring burst with nine points—including a 3-pointer as time expired—and also spearheaded a 19-4 run in the fourth, scoring nine points to give the Celtics a 91-74 lead that proved to be insurmountable.

Isaiah Thomas torched the Pistons with a season-best 34 points. (Duane Burleson/AP)

            Pressed on what went wrong in the third quarter that saw his team get outscored 36-27, Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy offered a simple and honest response, “Isaiah Thomas. We can’t guard him at all."

            The win puts the Celtics (36-42) in a tie with the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics own the tiebreaker—by virtue of winning the season-series three games to one—and therefore currently occupy the No. 7 seed in the East. Indiana (35-43) and Miami (35-43) remain just a game out of the playoff hunt.

            Should Wednesday’s performance give Thomas an edge in the race for the NBA’s sixth man of the year award? Based off how clutch Thomas has been, voters may have no other choice but to vote for the small-framed, explosive point guard.

            Entering the road tilt in Detroit, Thomas has averaged 9.1 minutes, 6.6 points and 1.3 assists in the fourth quarter (including his time with the Phoenix Suns). Only LeBron James has averaged more fourth quarter points (7.3). Furthermore, Thomas is shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, 44.3 percent from three and 89.3 percent on free throws in the final frame. His three-point percentage (44.3) in the fourth also rates the highest in the league. He had scored 37.7 percent of his total points in the fourth quarter this season (385 out of 1,022) entering Wednesday night, according to ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that was the highest percentage among the 104 players that have scored at least 800 points this season.

            Thomas has ignited an improbable playoff push for the Celtics, who were predicted by countless basketball pundits to be a bottom-feeder in the NBA this year. Acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Suns, he has given the Celtics a go-to-guy in the fourth quarter—something the Celtics haven’t had since trading away franchise icon Paul Pierce in the 2013 offseason. With three more years left in his contract following this season, Thomas is here to stay in Boston. He should figure into one of the pieces in general manager Danny Ainge’s rebuilding overhaul—one that has taken much less time to assemble than anticipated, thanks in part to the fantastic play by Thomas.

LeGarrette Blount Suspended for Week 1 of 2015 NFL Season

New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount has been suspended without pay for the 2015 regular-season opener for violating the substance abuse policy, the NFL confirmed Tuesday. Blount will not be in uniform when the defending-champion Patriots receive their Super Bowl rings in the 2015 home opener.

Blount will miss the first game of the 2015 season. (Greg M. Cooper/USA Today Sports)

Blount was a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he and fellow running back Le'Veon Bell were arrested on Aug. 20 after police found three-fourths of an ounce of marijuana in Bell's car during a traffic stop.

After serving 50 hours of community service, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge against Blount in January. Blount was cut by the Steelers in mid-November after the tailback left the field early in Pittsburgh's come-from-behind victory over the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. He totaled just 266 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games with the Steelers after signing a two-year, $3.85 million contract with the team in the offseason.

Following his release from Pittsburgh, Blount latched onto the New England Patriots—where he played during the 2013 NFL season. Blount emerged as the lead running back in his return to New England, rushing for 281 yards on 60 carries with three touchdowns in the final five games of the regular season. Blount—who ran for three touchdowns in the AFC Championship game versus the Indianapolis Colts—helped the Patriots win their fourth title in franchise history with a thrilling victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

As a result of the suspension, Blount will lose $48,685 in base salary, as well as a $6,250 per-game roster bonus. He remains eligible to participate in all offseason practices and preseason practices before the suspension starts.