Paul Pierce blamed the Celtics' loss on Jayson Tatum's injury and dismissed the Knicks' series win as illegitimate, predicting the Pacers would beat them next because New York only capitalized on facing a depleted Boston team.
The Boston Celtics saw their season come to an end with a tough loss in Game 6 of their second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks on Friday night. And Celtics legend Paul Pierce made it clear he wasn't happy with how things went.
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Jalen Brunson
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Jalen Brunson
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The Knicks closed out the series 4-2, dominating Game 6 with a 119-81 blowout win. The loss crushed Boston's hopes of winning back-to-back NBA titles — and Pierce had something to say about it.
After the final buzzer, the retired Celtic went live on Instagram to vent his frustration.
"We were injured, didn't have our star," Pierce said, referring to Jayson Tatum. "But it's cool, we're gonna bounce back next year. It's all good, we're chillin'."
Then Pierce turned his attention to the Knicks.
"Pacers gonna pop y'all, though," he said. "Y'all know that, right? Y'all know that the Pacers are gonna get y'all. So, I don't even wanna hear all that. Yeah, y'all feeling good. Y'all beat an injured Celtics team.
"We didn't have our All-NBA player, First Team, MVP candidate, who led us in all of these categories. So, you know, whatever."
Tatum suffered a torn Achilles late in Game 4. The Celtics managed to push the series to Game 6 without him, but their season came to a close tonight.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. They will face the Indiana Pacers, with Game 1 set for Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
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