Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Paul Pierce, who has gone through so many playoff wars with LeBron James, approached Nets coach Jason Kidd earlier in the series and asked to guard the Heat superstar in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Pierce knew James better than anyone, was more familiar with his tendencies than anyone.
Knowing all that, he still wanted James?
Monday night in Game 4, it didn’t go as Pierce planned. It went more under the heading of “Be Careful What You Wish For.” Real careful.
James scored 49 points, tying his career-playoff high, and the Heat pushed the Nets to the brink with a 102-96 victory for a 3-1 series lead.
“He’s tough. Especially with his strength and speed,” said Pierce, who encountered foul problems in the first quarter and again in the third. “It really took away a lot of my aggressiveness in the first quarter when I picked up two fouls. I was trying not to pick up my third foul in the second quarter and he realized that and just kept going to the hole.”
James scored 13 points in the second quarter for 25 by halftime. And he was only warming up.
“I felt the need that we needed to win this game, so whatever I needed to do to win this game that’s what I was going to do,” James said.
So 49 points were needed.
“At the end of the day, he’s tough to guard one-on-one,” Pierce said. “You’ve got to try to slow him down, you’ve got to try to steer multiple guys at him and make him kick the ball and we didn’t do that.”
Pierce had sent the message the Nets were not afraid of the big, bad, champion Heat. He asked for James. At times Monday, all that seemed as smart as filling the pool with quicksand.
“We don’t need bulletin-board things. We know Paul. For us, [whether] he said something, didn’t say nothing, our goal and our focus is still the same and that’s to come out here and win,” said James’ fellow superstar teammate and 15-point scorer, Dwyane Wade, bothered by a sore hand. (He refused to provide details).
Pierce finished with 16 points and had some huge moments in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter. He slipped through and dunked at 11:01 to put the Nets ahead, 80-79, their first lead since 38-35. A three-point play at 4:25 put the Nets up 90-89. James nailed a 3-pointer and the Heat never again trailed. They were tied, but never again behind. They had LeBron, don’t forget.
“You can’t allow a player like that to constantly get in the paint all night. He did a good job shrinking the court and getting to the one-on-one opportunities,” Pierce said. “He’s strong. When he got to the side he’s able to finish the contact. So we have to do a better job when he’s driving the ball and bringing another man making him get rid of the ball. He just really forced his way to the hole and we didn’t get in his way and he got a lot of layups.”