Paul Pierce Can Be Final Ingredient to Los Angeles Clippers' Title Recipe
Paul Pierce is from Inglewood, a stone's throw from the Great Western Forum, where the Los Angeles Lakers played prior to their current occupation of the Staples Center. But you might not have guessed that about Pierce if you'd parachuted into Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
Pierce, who recently signed with the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent, had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Clippers Night in Chavez Ravine. Rather than warmly welcome a hometown kid hoping to make good, though, fans in the stands treated Pierce to a smattering of boos before and after he bounced the ball to Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen at home plate.
Not that the Truth's icy reception was at all unique or any great surprise. Chris Paul's been booed multiple times at Dodger Stadium, perhaps by Lakers fans who still have bones to pick with "basketball reasons."
In Pierce's case, the animosity runs deeper and is decidedly more personal. He's known, first and foremost, for his 15 years with the Boston Celtics, a team that generations of NBA fans in L.A. have learned to despise. Pierce's own part in that historical drama traces back most notably to Game 1 of the 2008 Finals, during which he needed to be wheeled off the floor after suffering an apparent injury, only to later return to lead the C's to victory.
"I grew up a Laker fan, and after playing for all the Boston Celtics teams and the history [between them and the Lakers], there's no way I can go home and be a Laker," Pierce said at Las Vegas Summer League, per ESPN.com's Justin Verrier. "So this is the next best choice. And it's always been a dream to play in front of my family and friends."
Playing for the Clippers won't put Pierce in the good graces of the Lakers faithful, but in his return to Southern California, the 10-time All-Star can play an important part in his new squad's quest to establish its own championship bona fides in the City of Angels.
Technically, the Clippers could've made Pierce's homecoming happen 17 years ago. They owned the No. 1 pick in 1998, when Pierce left Kansas after his junior year. Instead, they went with Michael Olowokandi, who's since gone down as one of the worst top picks in NBA history.
L.A. had an opportunity to bring Pierce in last summer, but his pact with the Washington Wizards and the Clippers' decision to sign Spencer Hawes to the mid-level exception postponed that partnership.
"He should have been here last year too," head coach Doc Rivers interjected during the team's introductory press conference for its summer signings, per NBC Los Angeles' Michael Duarte.
Rivers played a pivotal part in Pierce's arrival. As Pierce explained at that same presser, "I played with Doc longer than any coach I ever played for in my career. Definitely comfortable being around him, being with him. So that really helps out, especially when you go into a new situation, being around things you're comfortable with."
Pierce should be plenty comfortable with the Clippers, and not just because of the coach and the city. The role he'll fill in L.A. figures to be similar to the ones he occupied in Washington last season and in Brooklyn prior to that. That is, he'll be called upon to lend his veteran wisdom and championship experience to the team's locker room while serving as a crunch-time assassin and all-around safety valve on the court.
The Clippers have needed someone with Pierce's skills and positional acumen for a long time. Since Rivers came aboard in 2013, L.A. has cycled through a slew of wings without finding a bona fide starter. Matt Barnes performed admirably in that role, but his energetic, hustle-oriented style of play is ultimately better suited to the sort of bench role he's likely to fill this coming season for the Memphis Grizzlies.
There will be no such concerns with Pierce. At 37, Pierce may not be the all-around offensive weapon he was during his Boston heyday. But as far as swingmen are concerned, Pierce's repertoire is as close to age-proof as they come. He's never leaned heavily on quickness or athleticism, relying instead on an "old-man game" replete with tricks and fakes, many of which you can probably see duplicated at your local YMCA.
Not that the Clippers will need Pierce's whirling-dervish act to juice their offense. According to NBA.com, they sported the league's most efficient offense on a per-possession basis last season, even with the inconsistent Barnes holding the fort at small forward. So long as Pierce can still shoot effectively from the perimeter—and attract defensive attention for doing so—L.A.'s offense should continue to hum right along.
If Pierce's performance in recent seasons is any indication, that won't be a problem. Over the last four years, Pierce's three-point attempts and percentage have both ticked upward overall:
Where the Clippers will really need Pierce, though, is in the most important moments of the biggest games. As it happens, Pierce hasn't lost his flare for the dramatic. This past postseason, he hit a slew of huge shots for the Wizards while knocking down a whopping 52.4 percent of his 6.3 three-point attempts per game.
The Clippers could certainly use a cold-blooded shotmaker like Pierce on their side in crunch time. According to NBA.com, L.A. saw serious slippage in several key offensive categories in clutch situations (i.e. last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, with neither team ahead or behind by more than five points).
| Overall | 109.8 | 62.9% | 53.3% |
| Clutch | 104.5 | 52.6% | 41.9% |
| Differential | -5.3 | -10.3% | -11.4% |
Watch just about any close Clippers contest over the past four years, and you'll begin to understand why that is. When the clock's winding down and the game is on the line, L.A.'s offense tends to boil down to Paul taking on the opposing defense and, more often than not, putting up either a heavily contested look in the paint or a tough jumper:
Jamal Crawford has enjoyed considerable success in clutch situations, but the Clippers' other top options (i.e. Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick) have seen their performance suffer under such circumstances:
The fact is L.A.'s supercharged offense stalls out as a one-man show in crunch time. It's difficult to discern whether that's because Paul doesn't trust his teammates or simply trusts himself more, or because Rivers wants to run it that way.
If trust is indeed part of the equation, Paul should have little trouble trusting a proven winner like Pierce to take care of business. His track record of success under pressure is about as close to unimpeachable as that of anyone in the NBA today.
And as CBS Sports' Matt Moore noted, Pierce, of all people, can identify with Paul's career shortfalls to date:
"Pierce, in many ways, joins Chris Paul as a veteran like so many that helped that 2008 Celtics team he captained. Guys like Sam Cassell, P.J. Brown and others who gave Boston the experience it needed to contend. Paul, like Pierce then, has long carried with him the burden of having never made it to the Finals, has been spectacular for so long that the only enduring commentary on him now is about his failure to make the leap to the next step. If anyone knows the struggle for CP3, it's The Truth.
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That's what the Clippers need Pierce to be: a final ingredient, not an all-around game-changer. They don't need a whole lot, not after winning at least 56 games in each of the last three seasons and coming within an epic collapse of advancing to the Western Conference Finals this past spring.
As such, Pierce doesn't have to play big minutes, especially with Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith around to man the forward spots. And he doesn't have to carry a heavy offensive load, what with Paul, Griffin, Crawford and a hoard of other scorers on the roster.
He can play the 4 in small-ball lineups. He can run Rivers' offense in a pinch. He can sit outside the three-point line and open up the floor by drawing a defender in his direction.
All the while, he'll be another galvanizing force in the huddle and locker room, available to offer his championship wisdom to teammates young and old.
Pierce doesn't have to be the player he was in Boston or even the one he was in Brooklyn and D.C. He's made his way to a stacked squad—one that, truth be told, needs only a facsimile of Pierce in the most pivotal moments to take that all-important next step in the brutal West.
Or to put it in baseball terms with which Pierce is probably familiar, as long as Pierce can get the ball to home plate, the Clippers won't care how many times he bounces it.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained via a Los Angeles Clippers press release.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
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