Paul Pierce
Grade: D
Tim Hiley: Oh what could have been…
Paul Pierce has always been an elite scorer in clutch moments and to quote Pierce from his last two playoff runs with the Wizards and Nets, ‘That’s why they brought me here’. The Clippers brought him here for that reason also, but it happened one year too late.
If Pierce was a Clipper for the 2014-15 season, they would not have succumbed to the Rockets in the manner they did. Pierce was outstanding against the Raptors and then against the Atlanta Hawks in 2015, hitting buzzer beaters and putting up stat lines that would be impressive for a man of 27, let alone 37, and that alone was why I was so excited to see him in a Clippers uniform.
All season long, I clung to the hope that he was in some kind of playoff hibernation and that he was just coasting to get to the playoffs. Then, shockingly, we barely played him through the first four games, and he received his first ever post season Did Not Play (Coaches Decision).
Then, to what to me was the clincher, in Game 5 of the playoffs, without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and with the odds stacked against us, we needed the Truth of old. Instead, we got the old truth; that time catches up to all players. His first shot of the game was an air-ball, and shortly after that he returned to the bench and I genuinely thought he was never going to appear on an NBA court again, and that he would retire right there and then
I expect Pierce may well retire now, but if he doesn’t I sincerely hope this year was a blip and he will return to some level of productivity. But despite rare glimpses of the Pierce we had become accustomed to, the 2015-16 season will sadly become the year when the Truth lied.
Perhaps a “D” is a tad generous.
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