Paul Pierce: ‘Our Best Basketball Is Going to Come’

by

Jun 9, 2010

Paul Pierce: 'Our Best Basketball Is Going to Come' BOSTON — Paul Pierce can only hope the Celtics head back to Los Angeles.

Two days after Pierce told the Staples Center crowd the C's wouldn’t be back in L.A. — insinuating they'd win all three games in Boston to claim the 18th championship in franchise history — the Celtics can't win the title without a trip to the left coast. The Lakers claimed Game 3 of the NBA Finals with a 91-84 victory at the Garden on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 series lead.

"I'm not disappointed," Pierce said when asked about a possible trip to L.A. for Game 6. "I'm disappointed at the loss. That’s what happens. It happens. That’s what happens. We lost a game. We've got to go back to L.A. I'm not going to win a game in L.A., and say we're coming back. No, that means I'm saying we're going to lose at home. I'm confident in my ball club."

The Celtics' captain stressed that his well-publicized conversation with a fan in L.A. wasn't trash talk.

"If I do say that type of stuff, it's all in good spirit, man," he said. "I want to win just like they want to win. We've got to go back to L.A. It is what it is. We've got to just do it the hard way. Not a problem."

Pierce remained optimistic despite falling behind in the series. The Celtics really haven’t played all that well in the Finals, but they've been within striking distance in the fourth quarter of each loss. 

"I feel great," Pierce said. "I know we still haven't played our best
basketball, and we were capable of winning these games. Even the game we
won, we didn’t feel like we played well, so our best basketball is
going to come. I know it's going to come before it's too late.
Hopefully, it's next game."

Hey, Pierce was heading back to L.A. either way. Now, the Los Angeles native just has to hope he's bringing his teammates with him.

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