As he tried to wriggle free and do something, the game clock sounded, the ball still in Pierce's hands. Four other Celtics stood there. No one had thought to call a timeout when Pierce was getting overwhelmed.
"We trust Paul to do his thing right there," said Delonte West.
After the game clock sounded, the referees huddled and decided that a jump ball had been called with .6 seconds left. After each team took a timeout, the jump ball was swatted away and with it went the Celtics' five-game winning streak. They fell to an unseemly 4-9 at home and surrendered their Atlantic Division lead to the Nets, who beat Cleveland.
Pierce, who finished with 27 points, had started what would have been a rewarding, game-winning rally with a driving layup with 2:58 to play, triggering a 7-0 Boston run that trimmed a 94-86 Golden State lead to 94-93 with 1:46 to play. But then Baron Davis (31 points, 8 assists) hit a tough baseline fallaway jumper after Pierce had lost the ball, the 22d and last Celtics turnover (more on that later). Al Jefferson (13 points, 11 rebounds) then made it 96-95 with 48.1 seconds left when he cleaned up a Pierce miss, and the Celtics got the Warriors to miss, which was easy to do given that Jason Richardson (4 for 19) took the shot.
Then came the final possession. Doc Rivers decided not to call a timeout and the team ran its "13" play. Golden State, which played a zone all night, cooperated at first, with Pierce running a pick and roll. Then came the Warriors' trap and all you-know-what broke out. The Celtics still had a 20-second timeout available.
"Someone on the floor could have called a timeout," Rivers said. "I thought Paul should have gone quicker, when he got the ball, and taken it to the basket. And then when they trapped, he chose not to make the pass."
Asked about the final possession, Pierce said, "We ran the play we wanted. They did a good job of smothering the ball and I couldn't get the pass off or the shot."
