Comeback King Secures First Blood for Boston

Only in America would a sporting tale unfold like this one.

Americans love a comeback. Outside Los Angeles, they also hate the Lakers. It has been that way for at least half a century, blue-collar fans railing against the glamour guys of Hollywood. Last night in the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, they got a chance to indulge in both those passions.

The Celtics, reinvigorated after years of dreadful basketball, roused their 18,000 fans to hysteria in this most atmospheric of bear pits as they took the first game of the NBA Finals 98-88 - and they owed a large debt of gratitude to one man above the rest.

In the grim days after Paul "The Truth" Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck and back in a Boston nightclub eight years ago, his basketball career was not what mattered most to him. He had attitude and notoriety - and was playing in a losing team.

But he pulled through. The Celtics, once the finest team in the game, and the turbulent Pierce lurched on together through mostly lean times. Then, last night in the Garden, the feisty guard made another headline-grabbing comeback, one that describes his journey from tearaway to dedicated professional athlete.

Halfway through the third quarter, with Boston trailing 58-62, Pierce got tangled up under his own basket with teammate Kendrick Perkins and collapsed in agony, clutching a twisted right knee. The stadium, which had resounded all night to the near universal mantra, "Beat LA!" fell silent as he was carried off, seemingly out of the game and the series. "I thought that was it," Pierce said later.

The Lakers were on a roll. An away victory for them first-up in the seven-match series would deal a crushing blow to the Celtics, who, under the guidance of Doc Rivers, have turned themselves from the second worst team in the country last season to rightful challengers to the Lakers this summer. And this was the match-up the country craved: basketball's oldest and best rivalry, a final to revive basketball after an alarming slump in ratings during the past two years.

Then, in fine Hollywood tradition, Pierce limped back from the treatment table, two minutes after his night and season looked wrecked. Roused by the PA blaring the Rocky theme, the crowd roared him on to the court - and to an heroic finish. Pierce not only got the better of his old Californian friend, Kobe Bryant, the best player in the game, but landed two three-pointers in the last 85 seconds of the quarter. He scored 15 of his night's 22 points in that quarter as the Celtics ground out a victory the rest of the country will have loved.

Banners went up around the stadium making the point to the Lakers' most celebrated fan, Jack Nicholson: "LA Can't Handle The Truth." It was a line dedicated to his most villainous role, a lying general in A Few Good Men.

Then came the cream on top, without which no American sporting drama would be complete. "God just sent an angel down," Pierce said, "and he said, 'You're going to be all right.'"

Bryant, who scored 24 points but missed plenty more, said: "Still, we played well enough to almost steal the game."

On Sunday night, he gets his shot at retribution. Alongside comebacks and schmaltz, it is what Americans love.