In ’08, Paul Pierce was the best guy on the floor. In 2010, he looks like a guy that is just old. I was watching him before the game and he looked like he was locked in. He was in that mode where he was clenching his fists and looking around at the crowd and looking like he was eating it up. I thought he was going to have a huge game and he came out and just started missing shots. Then Luke Walton came in and you think, “Oh, he’s going to torch Luke Walton.” No, didn’t torch him. So if he’s going to play like Rasual Butler, the Celtics have no chance.

The Luke Walton thing is what has me most concerned about Pierce. I mean, Pierce murdered Matt Barnes and Vince Carter last series; just absolutely torched them. And now he can’t even score with Luke Walton guarding him? Carter may not be a great defender but he’s better than Walton, right?

Pierce is the wild card right now. Nothing he’ll do tonight will surprise me. He could come out tonight, score 30, have 10 rebounds and put the Celtics on his back, and I wouldn’t blink an eye. Or he could again play like Rasual Butler and disappear for most of the game, and I’d still be completely unsurprised.

But if Pierce somehow stops playing like Rasual Butler and again starts to resemble the Truth? The Celtics will be tough to beat.