Bosh expressed his frustration at the lack of support displayed by his fellow Raptors after the incident, telling Toronto Star reporter Dave Feschuk (via FanHouse):

"Yeah, I'd like to see the team more passionate. I look at their bench and they're all up standing at half-court, and nobody from their team was down on the floor. I think we would react better to just be out there for one another and just stay together."

Clearly, Bosh feels that his team lacks toughness and he is sick and tired of no one doing anything about it:

"I'm tired of talking about toughness. We talk about it too much. We talk about everything too much. We've got to stop talking about it and just do it."

Antoine Wright appeared to be the only Raptors player other than Bosh to articulate his disappointment at how things went down, saying after the game that the Raptors "just got punked."

Sitting at 7-10, it probably isn't time yet to push the panic button in Toronto, but the Raptors did fall to 2-8 on the road, a statistic that backs up Bosh's assessment that his team lacks the requisite toughness needed to play well in opposing arenas.

But more than anything, I bet Bosh simply hopes that his teammates will allow him to take an extra long soak in the ice tub today. Ouch.

Bosh Gets Pounded, Wonders Why His Teammates Don't Care [Fanhouse]
Feschuk: Raptors bow down meekly to Celtics 116-103 [Toronto Star]
Paul Pierce Not a Big Fan of Chris Bosh's Junk [Last Angry Fan]

Make no mistake—these guys are dorks. If Twitter doesn't make 35-year-old Google engineers cool, why should it be any different just because the user is a multimillionaire NBA player? Pierce put out a call this weekend for fans to meet his car outside of whatever building his team plays in, give the secret password and receive free tickets to the Celtics game. That's some serious, Dungeons and Dragons stuff, if you ask me. And he's not the first to do it, of course. He got the idea from Shaquille O'Neal, who—let's be completely honest—is really the world's largest (in volume) nerd.

Even Mark Cuban (rich nerd) has started skipping his blog and taking his referee complaints directly to Twitter. It saves time, but not money. I wonder if the NBA also lets him pay his fines via PayPal?

Considering all the half-time Tweeting and elaborate pre-game choreography when do these guys ever find the time to play basketball?

Paul Pierce Gives Away Celtics Tickets Via Twitter [Boston CS]
Inside Mark Cuban's $25K Tweet [Urlesque]

Yesterday Pierce was asked what the difference was between Carmelo Anthony and himself. His answer: "I've never gotten a DUI."

Hilarious! Good. Now use that sass and aim it toward the Lakers. They're on the ropes. You're one game away from a championship. Go for the kill! Because shots at Carmelo, at this point in history, are like easier than the ones defended by Sasha Vujacic. See? That's how easy it is. Feel free to use that one before tonight's game.

Pierce-ing Words For Melo [Edmonton Sun]

Larry Paul versus Dominique LeBron. Look, I'm not even going to pretend to be unmoved here. Fans of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers had to endure one of the ugliest series in NBA history for six brutal games, but you know what? The final game made it all worthwhile. (Okay, mostly worthwhile.) As Game 7 showdowns go, this one ranks right up there with Larry Bird versus Dominique Wilkins in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals, right down to a Celtic superstar with a wispy, porn star mustache and an opposing superstar who went down with his head held high.

LeBron (45 points, 14-for-29, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) bared his basketball soul for the world to see, but in the end — and you knew this was coming, right? — he and his team just couldn't handle The Truth. And like Shaquille O'Neal once said: "Paul Pierce is the motherfucking truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out."

Pierce finished with 41 points (13-for-23), 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. He hit big shot after big shot. He guarded — and was guarded by — LeBron for most of the game. He, like LeBron, took a lot of uncalled contact but stayed aggressive and never quit. He dove for a loose ball and quickly called timeout to preserve a Boston possession in the fourth quarter. And he hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds left — the first of which hit the back rim, went straight up, and fell right down into the basket — to secure the game, which ended thusly: Boston 97, Cleveland 92.

Said Pierce: "The ghost of Red (Auerbach) just looking over us. I think he kind of tapped (the free throw) in the right direction. It sort of put a smile on my face." And 18,624 other faces as well.

While this duel might have lacked the you-hit-then-I-hit-then-you-hit quality of the Larry and 'Nique show, it was still an impossibly dramatic gunfight between two amazing players on as big a public stage as you can ask for. As LeBron put it: "We both tried to will our team to victory and, just like Dominique Wilkins, I ended up on the short end and the Celtics won again. I think the second round of the postseason, Game 7, these fans will finally have an opportunity to forget a little bit about Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins did and remember what Paul and LeBron did."

Or, better yet, they'll get to remember both. And be a lot better for it.

OK. I'm done Bill Waltonizing now. Other than LeBron, the only other Cavalier who showed up to play was Delonte West (15 points, 5 assists). Guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas (8 points, 2-for-8), Ben Wallace (3 points, 4 rebounds), Sasha Pavlovic (7 points, 3-for-8) and especially Wally Szczerbiak (zero points, 0-for-3, 4 fouls in 15 minutes) just stood around looking dumbstruck.

On the other end of the ball, Paul Pierce didn't get tons of backup, but he got a little more than LeBron. Kevin Garnett had 13 points and 13 rebounds, P.J. Brown had 10 points and 6 boards (not to mention a critical jumper and an even more critical offensive rebound/putback in the fourth quarter), and Eddie House came off the bench in the first half to jumpstart the Celtics out of a dangerously lethargic stretch.

One last note: Sometime during the game, Mark Jackson stated flatly that Paul Pierce had already earned the right to have his number retired and hung up in the rafters alongside Russell's, Cousy's, Havlicek's, Jones', Cowens' and Bird's. At the time, I thought he was vastly overstating things. Now? Not so much.

The Celtics will now move on to face the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 1 is in Boston on Tuesday.

Get back to me in March, when the Celtics have completed a five-game road trip that features consecutive games against the Spurs, Rockets and Mavericks. Then we'll know what we're dealing with. For now let us simply note that Paul Pierce scored 31 points (including 14-of-14 from the line) as the Celtics moved to 6-0 with a 101-86 win over the Pacers. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Boston matched its best start since the 1987-88 season. The Celtics won 14 straight to begin the 1957-58 season. The '95-96 Bulls started 41-3, by the way. In conclusion, the Celtics have to go a long way before upstaging the majesty and spectacle that is the New England Revolution.

• Bruce Bowen. Know Him. Love Him. Fear Him . That day that Bruce Bowen surpassed Kobe Bryant as the best player in the NBA* came without warning, Bowen shooting 6-of-6 from 3-point range and holding Bryant to 18 points as the Spurs beat the Lakers 107-92. Bowen scored 23 points, after having averaged 2.9 points per game before Tuesday. San Antonio has won four straight.

• An Evening At The Improv. And now it's time for the comedy stylings of Pat Riley. "Me? Play. I guarantee you I should suit up. I'd play better than some of them right now,'' Riley said Tuesday after his Heat lost to the Bobcats 91-76. "I guarantee it. I swear to God. With an old hip and 62-years-old and I can't see, I'll play better than some of my guys tonight. Come on, they were pretty bad.'' Thanks folks. Tip your waitress and drive safely, in that order.

• Blazers Glide To Victory. Now it is time to discuss the Portland Trail Blazers, who got a pep talk from former Blazers Clyde Drexler and Jerome Kersey before beating the Pistons 102-94. "I want that. I want to be Rip City again,'' said guard Brandon Roy, recalling a phrase from the Blazers' past. I'll take his word for it. LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 10 rebounds as Portland broke a four-game losing streak at the Rose Garden.

* = Writer's embellishment.

Pierce stopped in at the UCLA practice field on Wednesday as Chelsea was tuning up for its exhibition with the Los Angeles Galaxy, demanding to mind the net. You know, in theory, this should work. Why Manute Bol never tried to become a goalie is a complete mystery.

The NBA's Paul Pierce As Chelsea Keeper [The Offside]

Somehow, the vintage uniform makes the point stronger, doesn't it?

Arenas And Pierce May Have a Competitive Beef [Mr. Irrelevant]

This has started off one of our favorite things: A blog fight! The Cavaliers fans at YAYSports! are calling out the Celtics, and everyone is as fired up as anyone can be about something hosted by Pollhost. So anyway, everyone should go vote for whom you think would win, just so nobody ends up crying.

LeBron James Vs. Paul Pierce: 1-On-1 [YAYSports!]