{"id":714757,"date":"2026-04-20T19:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714757\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:18:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:18:43","slug":"paul-pierce-roasts-76ers-questions-whether-series-is-worth-his-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714757\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Pierce roasts 76ers, questions whether series is worth his time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Celtics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t“When I saw Sixers-Celtics I was like – I usually go to the Celtics’ first round, but I really didn’t want to waste that trip because I know.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tPaul Pierce Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"Nick\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t76ers coach Nick Nurse calls out \u2018absolutely unacceptable\u2019 effort vs. Celtics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCeltics\u2019 Joe Mazzulla named finalist for NBA coach of the year\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Celtics and 76ers <\/a>have met in the playoffs more than any other pair of teams in NBA history, but the last time Philadelphia beat Boston in a series was 44 years ago in the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals. <\/p>\n

Boston eliminated Philadelphia twice during Paul Pierce\u2019s career. They knocked the 76ers out in the first round of the 2002 playoffs in five games, and they won again in the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals which went to seven games. <\/p>\n

With the Celtics up 1-0 following a 123-91 blowout Sunday night, Pierce cracked a joke about how this series might not be worth his time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was thoroughly impressed Game 1, but you know, like \u2013 it\u2019s Philly,\u201d Pierce said during a recent appearance on \u201cNo Fouls Given\u201d.<\/a> \u201cWe haven\u2019t lost to Philly in a playoff series since like \u201982. I\u2019m serious. A lot of people watching this show weren\u2019t even born.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was five years old the last time. When I saw Sixers-Celtics I was like \u2013 I usually go to the Celtics\u2019 first round, but I really didn\u2019t want to waste that trip because I know.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Pierce was also impressed with Jayson Tatum\u2019s 25-point, 11-rebound double-double in his first playoff game back since rupturing his Achilles against the Knicks last May.<\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s postgame comments about being more relaxed than ever before because he wasn\u2019t sure if he\u2019d be able to play at all were also encouraging, Pierce said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the difference in coming back now, he\u2019s giving you more of the intangibles because he\u2019s having a better understanding,\u201d Pierce said. \u201cIt\u2019s like Jaylen [Brown], as far as the scoring, is going to be our guy on most nights, but I can give you these other things to fill in if my scoring is not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I begin to mature as a player because I came into the league as a scorer, but like, my scoring isn\u2019t going to be there every night. And then, coming off of an Achilles injury, sometimes the shot, the lift, is not going to be there. I see he\u2019s making an extra effort to say if anything else fails, if my shot is off, I\u2019m going to rebound at a high level and I\u2019m going to be a passer at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early in the series, but so far Tatum and the Celtics are showing positive signs. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he continues to play this way, it\u2019s going to be tough to beat the Celtics,\u201d Pierce said. \u201cObviously they\u2019re a championship caliber team with him in the lineup.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

\t\tKhari A. Thompson<\/a>Sports Reporter\t<\/p>\n

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the latest Boston sports news<\/p>\n

Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics “When I saw Sixers-Celtics I was like – I usually go to the Celtics’ first round,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-714757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116438653877458981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}