All Knicks

Knicks Force Celtics Legend to Walk the Walk

The Celtics were confident that they wouldn't fall down 0-2 to the rival Knicks, but one former Boston player-turned analyst had to eat his words after talking his team up.
Henry Brown|
Jun 9, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics former player Paul Pierce before game two of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Jun 9, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics former player Paul Pierce before game two of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

In this story:

New York Knicks

If there's one thing NBA legend Paul Pierce will always maintain confidence in, it's his Boston Celtics.

The longtime franchise icon has spent the entirety of his post-retirement career supporting his former team, either as an analyst or as a typically ravenous Boston fan.

He's had to eat his words before, infamously calling a premature death for the 2019 Milwaukee Bucks, and he struck again on Wednesday in predicting the outcome of the Celtics' Game 2 matchup against the New York Knicks.

Two days after the Knicks took home Game 1 in a 108-105 overtime nail-biter, Pierce made the assumption that the Celtics wouldn't fall into the same traps they stumbled into on Monday. Their threes had to fall sometime, and Mikal Bridges surely couldn't recreate the same heroic defensive stops again.

He announced that he'd make the long walk from his house to work on foot the next morning should the Celtics take an unprecedented 0-2 deficit, and unfortunately for Pierce and the Celtics, Game 2 hit all of the same beats as Game 1.

Brunson once again kept his team with clutch fourth quarter buckets, Bridges had yet another stop on Boston's final possession and the Celtics shot 25% from three for the second straight game.

He took his failed called shot on the chin, spending all day Thursday making good on his promise. His journey to FS1's studio was not a short one, taking seven hours and several miles longer than his 15 mile prediction, but did eventually make it to work on foot.

His adventure wasn't without disturbance, with Pierce's brash statement coming back to haunt him live as he realized the length of the trip ahead of him. Former Celtics teammate and frequent collaborator Kevin Garnett even made a brief appearance in Pierce's Instagram Live chronicles, driving by to laugh at his wild-talking friend.

It wasn't Pierce's finest moment as an analyst of the game, but few could have predicted the Knicks taking this kind of playoff series lead. They currently stand at 2-0 over the defending champion Celtics, with the chance to build on the advantage and potentially send them back to Boston with Games 3 and 4 in Madison Square Garden to look forward to.

Make sure you bookmark Knicks on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns as and so much more!

Published
Henry Brown
HENRY BROWN

Share on XFollow henryjbr_sports
Home/News