Pierce Is Still Sore, But Expects to Play

BOSTON, June 6 -- Paul Pierce walked with a limp, and his right knee still felt tender and sore. One day after his dramatic exit and return from a strained meniscus inspired the Boston Celtics to victory in Game 1, Pierce said he doesn't expect the "sharp pain" in his leg to keep him from playing in Game 2.

"I think there is a great chance I'll play, just knowing myself, knowing my threshold for pain," Pierce said. "I can walk on it. I can bend it, but there is a sharp pain on the inside of my knee. Just going to get my treatments in the next couple of days and see how I feel."

Pierce was carried off the court by teammates and carted to the locker room in a wheelchair after colliding with teammate Kendrick Perkins in the third quarter. He returned to hit two three-pointers later in the period to give the Celtics the lead for good and finished with 22 points.

The Celtics didn't practice Friday, and Pierce won't practice Saturday so that he can get extra rest and treatment.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson played down the severity of Pierce's injury. He scoffed at a question comparing the scene to Willis Reed's comeback for the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, I think Willis Reed missed a whole half and three-quarters, almost, of a game and literally had to have a shot, a horse shot, three or four of them in his thigh to come back out and play," said Jackson, who was Reed's teammate in New York. "Paul got carried off and was back on his feet in a minute. I don't know if the angels visited him at halftime or in that timeout period that he had or not, but he didn't even limp when he came back out on the floor.

"I don't know what was going on there," he said. "Was Oral Roberts back there in their locker room?"

When told of the skepticism toward Pierce's injury, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers responded by saying: "Oh, I don't care. Aren't we skeptics anyway now about everything? So what the heck, let it begin. Let it begin. Lee Harvey Oswald did it."

Reserve guard Tony Allen said Pierce would have to see "a bone out" to keep him from coming back. Asked what he took to recover so quickly, Pierce said, "Just four Advils."

Rivers said there is no structural damage in the knee, but Pierce said he would wait until the season ended to have an MRI exam. "I was scared," Pierce said. "Once I felt a sharp pain, I didn't know what to think. The worst came to mind."

Rivers Expects Perkins to Play

Pierce wasn't the only Celtic injured Thursday. Perkins suffered a high-ankle sprain in the third quarter and didn't return. Rivers said Perkins would be available Sunday. . . . With Perkins out, Celtics reserve forward P.J. Brown -- making his Finals debut after 15 seasons in the NBA -- played 21 minutes and had two points, six rebounds and a blocked shot. The Celtics' unheralded bench outperformed the Lakers' second unit in points (17-15), rebounds (12-7) and assists (3-2), which played a huge role in the outcome Thursday. Jackson took the blame. "I really shortened the minutes of the bench last night, so that's not their fault about not scoring and no productivity," he said.