NBA Weekly: Paul Pierce Is Still The Truth

Paul Pierce: First Paul Pierce scores 22 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Raptors and then last night he nailed a last second jumper to beat the undefeated Hawks. So what is the moral of the story here? Paul Pierce is STILL the mothaf'ing truth and if he keeps going like this he should get some serious consideration for MVP. Right now Pierce is averaging just 20.4 points game on 40.8% shooting, while pulling down 7.4 rebounds and dishing out 3.7 assists, but the last two games Pierce has poured in 70 points, while shooting 18 of 36 from the floor, 7 of 14 from three, and 27 of 30 from the free throw line. Clearly Pierce has carried the Celtics to victory in the last two games and he is probably the only Celtic who can take over a game offensively for his team. If Pierce continues to play at a high level for the Celtics and takes over more games in the 4th quarter, he should have a good case to be included in the MVP discussion when all is said and done. I'm pretty sure the trophy already has Lebron James' name etched on it though. Either way there is no denying who the man on the Celtics when crunch time comes calling.

Other NBA News:

- Even though the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Celtics last night, they played a great game and they are going to be a terror for any team to play this season. I still think they can be as high as a 3 seed in the East and definitely in the top 5 teams, if they continue to play the great defense they have shown so far.

- Greg Oden's return might have been the story for Portland going into last night's game, but in the end the story changed to Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez. Fernandez helped the Blazers defeat the Miami Heat by pouring in 25 points and on the season is averaging 15.4 points a game off the bench, while shooting 48.1% from the floor and 45.7% from three. Clearly he can do a lot more than just dunking on Dwight Howard. Oden, on the other hand, had just 3 points and 2 rebounds in his return.

- Bobcats guard Jason Richardson will be out for a week after having his knee scoped. Richardson is the Bobcats leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points a game. Losing Richardson even for a few games is not a good thing for a Charlotte team that is averaging just 87.3 points per game, which is second worst in the NBA.

- Tony Parker went off for 55 points then sprained his ankle the next night and will be out for a month. The Spurs are already without Manu Giniboli and are now just 2-5 on the season. The Spurs need to get healthy soon or they could face an uphill battle to get into the playoffs and it will be even tougher for them to get into position as one of the top 5 teams in the West.

- Bulls guard Kurt Hinrich is out up to 3 months with a torn thumb ligament.

- The NBA is cancelling its Pre-Draft Camp, which has been held in Orlando the past few seasons, because most of the top players do not participate in the games. I covered the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp pretty extensively this past summer, but it looks like I won't be able to do that again.

More: NBA Weekly