Paul Pierce Defends Celtics, Says Pacers Will 'Pop' Knicks in Conference Finals

The Truth wasn't ready to give New York any love.

Pierce looks into a video camera on the court before game two of the 2024 NBA Finals. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Paul Pierce is standing by his former team after they failed to get past the second round of the 2025 Eastern Conference playoffs.

After the Boston Celtics lost to the New York Knicks 119-81 on Friday night—a defeat that officially eliminated them from the postseason and stopped their NBA title defense in its tracks—Pierce took to a livestream and pushed back on some Knicks fans who were talking smack.

"Pacers are gonna pop ya'll, though," the longtime Boston captain said, seemingly in response to a flurry of comments. "Y'all know that, right? Ya'll know that the Pacers is gon' get y'all. So I don't even wanna hear all that ... Y'all beat an injured Celtics team ... We didn't have our All-NBA player, first-team, MVP candidate who led us in all these categories."

Here's a look at the video:

Paul Pierce after the Knicks eliminated the Celtics from the Playoffs

“Pacers gonna pop y’all. Pacers gonna get y’all… y’all beat an injured Celtics team.” pic.twitter.com/VKsU6ODTBN

— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 17, 2025

Loyalty at its finest from The Truth, who—on the face of it—thinks Boston would have come back and won the series if star Jayson Tatum hadn't ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 4.

Instead, the Celtics are done, and the Knicks and Pacers will face off in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 1 is set for Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. EST from New York's Madison Square Garden.

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