Paul Pierce and Ushering a New Era in the East

Paul Pierce is having his jersey retired just in time to see a new era begin in the Eastern Conference

Paul Pierce‘s jersey retirement ceremony celebration is finally upon us, and we are fortunate enough that we do not have to deal with any more nonsense related to tribute videos. TD Garden will all be about celebrating Pierce, and of course it is fitting that it is against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

You can run through all the career accolades and numbers that Pierce put up in his career, but there is no better testament to his greatness than what he did to LeBron James in his first stint with the Cavaliers.

Pierce is the one true individual rival that James has ever had, and Pierce’s Boston Celtics were the last team to actually beat James and keep him out of the NBA Finals. In fact, the last time James lost, it signified the beginning of a new era in the East.

After years of battling, James finally got to the point where he could not get it done with the help he had in Cleveland. He could not get past Pierce and his new All Star teammates and took his talents to south beach, starting a new reign in the East with his super team.

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Pierce was the last one to give James that real competition, and he is absolutely responsible for ushering that new era of the East. A lot of other things changed in the NBA around that time and since then, but you cannot deny the role Pierce had in drastically shifting the trajectory of that Conference.

And now, on the day his number is going up in the rafters, we can look ahead to another dramatic change in the East. The Cavaliers have never looked so vulnerable, and that has left the door open for the Celtics and the Toronto Raptors to start a new era of the Eastern Conference, where it is no longer a guarantee that James will be getting to the Finals.

On the other hand, this game is also the first time we will be seeing the new look Cavaliers. Maybe the new era will go another way, and James will take this current team to new heights and once again change the role he has in the East.

In any case, this game is a great moment to reflect on what a great spot the Eastern Conference is in. Everyone feels as though we are on the brink of finally ending the unprecedented reign of king James on the East.

Obviously, this can only be a preview, because none of this happens outside of the playoffs. What we do know, however, is that the Celtics are finally seeing results from this core that they genuinely can see becoming true title contenders, and a lot of things are pointing to this being the year that ushers in a new era in the East, an era where James is not able to coast to the playoffs, with the days of late playoff series sweeps being behind them.

You can make your arguments for the Celtics or the Raptors and who might be in a better position to take them down, but playing this new Cavaliers team when Pierce’s jersey is up in the rafters should be a reminder of what they need to be able to do.

Whether or not the Celtics are true title contenders is a different story, and whether or not the Raptors are in a better position is not what they are worried about. The Celtics need to look to Pierce and see what he was able to accomplish against James, and use that to push them through the rest of the regular season, and once again send James to another team in hopes of recapturing the glory he once had.

Timing is an amazing thing in sports, and it truly is special that Pierce’s retirement is happening on the first season in almost a decade where James looks vulnerable. For the past few years, no one has seriously considered the possibility of James missing the Finals.

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Right now, it is a reality that everyone is talking about, and seeing Pierce’s number get retired on the day when he is debuting his new team will be a great reminder to James that the Celtics will be the team he needs to fear most in the East for the rest of his career, just as it was when he failed to get passed Pierce in his first stint with the Cavaliers.

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