"No way I'm walking out of this gym without a win" - Paul Pierce compares his yesteryear battles with LeBron James to Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo's 2022 NBA playoffs contest
The Boston Celtics have advanced to the 2022 NBA Finals where they will play against the Golden State Warriors. The first game of the series is on Thursday, May 2, and it will be interesting to see how the Celtics perform against this juggernaut.
Their road to the finals wasn't easy at all. In the first round, they swept the Brooklyn Nets, which was one of the closest sweeps in the NBA history.
The Milwaukee Bucks were their opponents in the second round, and the series went to seven games. Their the series against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals also went to seven.
Despite their struggles, the Celtics made it to the final stage, and Paul Pierce has praised them and Jayson Tatum. The former Celtics superstar has talked about them and their series against the Bucks, comparing it to his own legendary battles against LeBron James.
Paul Pierce remembers his battles against LeBron James
Paul Pierce and LeBron James played 30 playoff games against each other, and each series was amazing. The Los Angeles Lakers forward won 17 of those games, including the last one in 2014.
In total, James has a 3-2 series lead over Piece. Pierce was victorious with the Celtics in 2008 and 2010, while LeBron came out on top in 2011, 2012, and 2014.
Each game was amazing, as both players gave their best to beat their opponent. Paul Pierce scored 50 points against LeBron back in 2006, while James' scoring record against Pierce was 49 points.
Pierce still remembers those legendary battles, and he compared Jayson Tatum's games against Giannis Antetokounmpo to them. The former Celtic talked about Game 6, where Tatum scored 46 points and tied the series.
"For Jayson Tatum Tatum, like my situation, it was do or die that day. Because if the Bucks win, that puts the Celtics out. And so that was my mindset. It was like no way do I want my season to end today, and I'm sure that was his mindset.
"He was out there doing everything he could, so he can extend the series. We saw one of the great games of a young superstar in Jayson Tatum, keeping this team alive and eventually them putting the Bucks away in seven games."
Pierce was a beast in elimination games
Paul Pierce played 24 elimination games in his amazing NBA career, 17 of those being with the Celtics. In these 17 games, the NBA legend averaged 22.0 points per game.
Paul Pierce went at LeBron James too. He wasn’t going to win those battles with young Bron, but there was nights where he won and this was out of his prime. Only casuals disrespect Truth. One of the coldest ever. https://t.co/oILh2LqyMj
His best performance in an elimination game came in 2002 against the Philadelphia Sixers. He scored 46 points on 16-for-25 shooting and eight-for-10 from the 3-point land.
Paul Pierce also put on a great show against LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008. These two teams met in the second round and the series went to seven games. James scored 45 points, but that wasn't enough as Pierce's 41-point performance helped the Celtics advance to the next round.
"In my case there was no, there was no tomorrow also. ... I'm saying hey, I'm ready to put this team on my back so we can advance, and there's no way I'm walking out this gym without a win."