Pierce has earned everything thats come his way. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “His path to success, however, couldn’t be more different from James’s. Since he made the leap to the NBA from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003, James has been on the fast track, and living up to the hype. Pierce’s road has been winding. The hype and stardom evaded him to the point where he persistently calls himself the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. Forgoing star status, self-confidence — and sarcasm — are Pierce’s coping mechanisms. He tells the world he’s one of the best shooters in NBA history, then wins a 3-point contest to validate it. He says he’s the classic case of a great player on a bad team, then outduels Kobe Bryant — the league’s gold standard for individual greatness — in the NBA Finals. Why does success come faster for some than others? Why do some people immediately command respect while others have to earn it over time? Why is it that when some players say they’re chosen, they’re taken at their word but others have to spend years proving it? ‘I know at the end of the day, when my career’s said and done, everything I achieved, I worked for,’ Pierce said. ‘Nothing was ever given to me. That’s one thing I can honestly say. I think when you come along the ranks, whether it’s from high school or college to the pros when you’re automatically given stuff, you know . . . ’’ He left the thought unfinished. ‘But at the end of the day, everything I’ve gotten in my career, and I continue to get, I worked for it and I earned it.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘Just going against the best, regardless of whether it’s LeBron, brings it out in me,’ said Pierce. ‘Just going against the best teams. Over the years whenever I’ve played against a top team, I want to make sure I show up for that game. I want to play my best, and on the big stage playing against the MVP, the best player in the league, it brings the best out of you. I’m comfortable doing anything,’ he said. ‘I don’t limit myself to just being a shooter or driving. I’m a natural-born scorer, and if the shot is there I’m going to take it all over the court. I feel good, my shot feels good and my body feels good, and that’s the most important thing. Just being healthy helps me to do the things I know I can do on the court.’”

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Because of it, the rivalry between the two teams is now complex. It dates back to Pierce spitting at the Cavs bench and nearly getting into a fight with James in a preseason game in 2004. It was fueled recently when Boston reserve Glen Davis was seen perhaps trying to purposely slap at Shaquille O’Neal’s injured thumb. Then, in the last meeting on Easter Sunday, James got into a heated exchange with Garnett after James missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer. But there is no missing the respect level the Cavs have for their now underdog opponent. It shows on the roster, where they responded to the Celtics’ moves by making three cash-absorbing trades to land All-Stars to play with James and then signing pieces to support the core. Even the close-knit relationship the Cavs have in the locker room and the interaction and antics on the bench are, in a way, nods to the Celtics. It was the team-building exercises the Celtics had to start the 2007-08 season that helped them forge chemistry. It was the Celtics’ active bench — it often bent the rules by basically becoming an extra defender at the end of close games with players straying from their seats — that was the basis for how the Cavs behave now. Deep down, beyond all the on-court talk, there is a respect. And the Cavs see beating the Celtics, which is what they intend to do, as a rite of passage into what they hope will be the same finish Boston had two seasons ago when they last met.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “And what Jordan brought to the game in flare, athleticism, and dominance, James equals with strength, all-around skill, and speed. There is only one Jordan, but James is making a loud enough impression on today’s NBA to create his own mystique for a new generation of children to emulate. ‘If you turn around, he has 35 [points], 8 boards, and 9 assists and that means he’s all-around, not to mention the steals and the blocks,’ Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said. ‘He affects the game is so many different dimensions. Dominance is dominance,’ Garnett said when comparing James and Jordan. ‘New era. New rules. Different tales of the tape. Apples and oranges. Both of them sweet. You love both of them. They are both good for you.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “It’s not just that James can score, which is a big enough worry. It’s not even that he can, and does, pass. It’s that when he passes it’s to a bevy of 3-point shooters. Or it’s to a collection of jump shooting big men. Or it’s to a rolling big flying down the lane toward the rim. The Celtics have already dealt with one superstar in the playoffs, but unlike Dwyane Wade, LeBron won’t be dishing off to the likes of Quentin Richardson and an aging Jermaine O’Neal. The Cavs may not have superstars around James, at least not superstars in their prime, but they do have a vast assortment of capable role players that compliment his skills. ‘The 10 [rebounds] and 10 [assists] we can’t have,’ Doc Rivers said after a two hour practice Thursday. ‘The 30 and the 40 [points] we don’t want, and if he has it we want him to have it our way, not his way. That upset with us with Wade in a couple of games.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – Forget LeBron vs. Pierce. Don’t even worry about KG vs. Jamison. Look past Rondo vs. Mo. This series will be decided by “Big Baby” vs. “Wild Thing.” The two players are more similar than immediately meets the eye. Both are capable of providing a spark off the bench, both can be overly dramatic and flamboyant, and, most importantly, both do all the little things that hardly show up in the box score, such as keeping rebounds alive, chasing loose balls, and taking charges. ‘He’s the biggest threat on the floor,’ Davis said of Varejao. ‘At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to win the series is the energy guys. He’s everywhere. He’s a pest. He’s showing off screens, he’s getting his hand on balls. He’s getting rebounds. He’s getting easy putbacks, getting free-throw rebounds. His energy is a big key for that team. What he brings is hard to find. He’s the type of player that can determine a game.’”

Jodie Valade, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Anderson Varejao pointed to a darkened patch of skin on the inside of his right knee after Friday’s practice. ‘You can still see it,’ he said. It’s the spot where Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose’s knee knocked into the Cavaliers forward’s knee during Game 2 of the first-round series. The injury seemed to knock Varejao off his game for the remainder of series. Varejao swears the bruise didn’t hamper him. He said the foul trouble he found in each of the next four games had a bigger impact. He managed just 25.2 minutes per game, and hit only 37.5 percent of his field-goal attempts in the series. He was unable to find a rhythm against the Bulls, and as a high-energy player who feeds off emotion, he needs rhythm more than anything else. ‘It’s special for me,’ Varejao said. ‘I need rhythm to play really active.’”

Kirk Minihane, WEEI – “I think the Celtics and Cavaliers each own one huge edge when you break down the two teams as we head into what I think will be a seven-game playoff series. The advantage for Cleveland? Sebastian Telfair and his inside knowledge on how to stop Rajon Rondo. Well, that and the very best basketball player in the world at the absolute peak of his powers. Would anyone be shocked if LeBron James averaged a triple-double in this series? As great as Dwyane Wade was in the last two games of the first-round series, LeBron will be better. Bank on it. And how about the Celtics? When I looked over the matchups and handed out the check marks, I was surprised at how easy it was to give Doc Rivers the nod.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “But with 6:00 left in the fourth, and Utah up 98-95, Kenyon Martin pushed Deron Williams as he drove toward the basket, and Martin earned a technical foul. From then on, the unraveling began. Chauncey Billups earned a technical a minute later, and Utah went on a 14-9 run to close out the game. And with 51.1 seconds left, the fans began chanting, ‘Beat L.A.!’ ‘These kind of things, I’m sure it will take awhile to sink in. It’s been awhile since I’ve had this feeling this early (in the playoffs),’ said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups, who has been to the conference finals in each of the past seven seasons. ‘You just got to give credit to the Jazz. They stole homecourt advantage from us, and they won all their home games.’ ‘Anything short of a championship is disappointing, especially for the team we have in place,’ Martin said. ‘But last year is last year — a lot of teams were gunning for us. They want to be where we were. That’s the way teams are playing. We just didn’t get it done, bottom line.’ With the loss comes questions. Has the window closed on the Chauncey-Melo Nuggets, or do they have one more season in them to win a title? Will the Nuggets endure another season with mercurial head case J.R. Smith (a good bargain who can get hot), or will they try to deal him? Will Rex Chapman and Mark Warkentien, front-office execs with expiring contracts, both be back? Are Martin’s knees sturdy enough to give it another go, or will he miss chunks of time next season too? And, of course, will coach George Karl be able to return from throat and neck cancer and lead his troops once again?”

Mike Bresnahan, LA Times – “Better make room for another historic tenth of a second. Six years after Derek Fisher’s unforgettable “0.4″ shot came Pau Gasol’s “0.5″ clincher, another last-second theme on a different Lakers team that pushed itself past the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gasol’s follow of Kobe Bryant’s miss provided the final points Friday at Ford Center, an apparent loss turned into a 95-94 victory with the flick of two hands and half a second showing on the scoreboard. The Lakers will have barely 36 hours, if that, to celebrate another memorable playoff moment for a franchise filled with them. They eliminated the Thunder, four games to two, and begin the Western Conference semifinals at home Sunday against Utah at 12:30 p.m.”

Bill Plaschke, LA Times – “‘Tough,’ Ron Artest said, confirming it with his tired voice and his wrecked body, sitting in front of his locker with two ice packs on his knee and one on his shoulder. ‘Tough.’ Man alive. Enough already. The Lakers didn’t win this series, they escaped it. They didn’t beat an eighth-seeded opponent, they beat a heavyweight contender. They spent more than a week mostly stumbling around against the league’s youngest and fastest team, allowing themselves to be pushed to a Game 6, then show their championship mettle and grab a seven-point lead with five minutes left, and what happens? Tough got tougher. The noise grew louder, rattling your courtside keyboard, making it impossible to hear anything but Thunder. The giant white balloons — Thundersticks, of course — incessantly flapped, pounding the head, again and again. And the Lakers began to fold. Gasol charged. Kobe Bryant bricked. Gasol fumbled. The Thunder drained and dunked and finger rolled and, suddenly, the Lakers were trailing by a point in the final seconds. It is over yet? Fittingly, it was over only after one star rescued another, Gasol charging the lane as Bryant’s jump shot bounced off, Gasol grabbing the ball with two hands and putting it back in the basket with 0.5 seconds remaining.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.