The Game That ESCALATED The LeBron vs Pierce Rivalry...

This is the game that escalated the rivalry between LeBron James and Paul Pierce! The double overtime thriller in ‘06 between the Chosen One and the Truth deserves a deep breakdown… LeBron’s big arrival in the NBA immediately caught Pierce’s attention, and their matchups instantly became a must-see TV. By 2006 they had already met 8 times and the record was split evenly. So, on February 15th every road led to Boston for another spectacle. And both guys were ready! That was a beautiful spin move by Pierce to get right past James for the layup. They embraced the assignment to guard each other on the defensive end, but without any success early on… Paul connected on two straight buckets by creating a huge separation on Bron. This meant that James must come up with an answer. And he did just that by swishing this mid-range jay over 2 defenders. But he definitely wasn’t ready for this on the other end. Pierce left LeBron in the dust before exploding along the baseline for the one handed jam. But despite all of that, the Celtics trailed by 7 points after one, mainly ‘cuz James was able to respond with 13 of his own. And he was sure he’ll get this and-1 in his favor too, but Brian Scalabrine had other plans. After taking a couple of minute rest at the start of the 2nd quarter, the shootout continued. Eric Snow and Wally Sczerbiak weren’t gonna do anything against Pierce and James respectively. On the contrary, here’s a very rare miss by LeBron all alone under the basket. I cannot believe how he missed the bunnies! I guess it happens to the best of us… Meanwhile, the Truth was ballin! But as we saw it earlier, the 22 year old Bron was quietly keeping the Cavs in control throughout the 2nd quarter as well. Heading into the break, Cleveland led by 7 points, and after a hot shooting 1st half, both James and Pierce cooled down a bit in the 3rd quarter. But I gotta show you this monster block by LeBron, completely erasing Paul’s layup attempt. And just a couple of possessions later, he does it again! On the next play, Bron made sure to get a payback on Scalabrine too. Pierce had to work hard to get a clean look in the 3rd period. While James was muscling his way to the rim. With 27 points and 8 assists, LeBron put the Cavs up by 8 points early in the 4th, when Paul decided to step it up a notch. The Truth goes on a personal 10 to 2 run to tie the game and energize the crowd! Amazing! And speaking of that, look at this connection between Wally and the White Mamba underneath the rim. This is just poetry in motion. Paul took notice of that and did this to LeBron. Pierce played like a man possessed in the final period, doing it all for his team when they needed it the most. So, down by 2 with less than 2 minutes remaining, James was overdue to respond. The young king delivers one of his iconic poster dunks, annihilating Delonte West in the open lane! That was nasty! And so was the block by Varejao on Pierce on the other side… The Cavs were in a great spot to ice the game, as Ilgauskas who was a career 78% free throw shooter was on the line looking to make it a 4 point game with 7 seconds left in regulation. But he missed both free throws, giving the Celtics just what they needed. Unlike Ilgauskas, Pierce stayed ice cool on the line to send the game into overtime, ‘cuz 0.2 seconds on the clock were too little for the Cavs to create something… However, James had plenty of time to create for himself in the extra period. With 6 points in a row, Bron put his team up by 4 points with 90 seconds to go. The pressure was peaking for the Celtics, so Paul Pierce had to gut out another spectacular play. Paul gets Snow up in the air before laying it over Varejao, plus the foul! There he was again, at the foul line shooting to extend the game. Still, LeBron got 24 seconds and the iso with Pierce to try and come up with the game winner. Bron gets to where he wants but the ball rims out and we go to a 2nd overtime! And there, Boston looked like they wanted it more… James comes out of nowhere for the block to save his team from falling in a 4 point deficit. And Delonte totally makes up for that by swatting away Snow’s attempt on the other side. Skal had the opportunity to be the Celtics hero, but only if he’d made this shot, otherwise, the punishment came quickly by the hands of Drew Gooden. #lebronjames #paulpierce #nba