EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They can't stop me.

	Paul Pierce is shooting just 30.8 percent from the field against the Nets.

Of course, that's what Paul Pierce had to say about the New Jersey Nets' defense prior to Game 1. He had good reason to make such a claim. In the four regular-season games against the Nets, Pierce averaged 37 points a game. In those games he scored 82 points in the fourth quarter alone. Whether it was Kenyon Martin or Richard Jefferson, Pierce had little trouble getting to the basket, pulling up from midrange or hoisting long balls. There was no reason for him to worry about the Nets' D. Who were they going to throw at him next, Lucious Harris? Please.

The Nets may not be able to guard him but here is one inescapable fact. In the last three halves of basketball, the league's second-leading scorer has only made five baskets.

When Game 1 rolled around, Pierce had that bounce he has when he's about to score 35 points in a half. Not quite, but he did come out aggressive. He scored 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting. It wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. Pierce didn't give the Nets much of a chance to stop him on account of the fact he got himself into foul trouble.

"When you play at a certain level, people come to expect more from you," said Pierce after Game 1. "I didn't play the way I expected to play. I know I can play better but that's how things are going to be for me."

Actually, those 27 points meant exactly nothing to Pierce. "I think I played terrible," he added.

If he played poorly, it was due largely in part to his reckless barreling into the lane that got him two offensive fouls and kept him on the bench for a good chunk of the second half. Mr. Fourth Quarter was a non-factor in the game's late stages.

	The point to all of this is had Pierce not unnecessarily shot his mouth off about how the Nets couldn't guard him, he may not be in this mess right now.

Then there was Game 2. Everything that didn't go wrong for Pierce in Game 1 went wrong in Game 2. He left his shot at the hotel and seemed bent on proving his "You can't guard me" claim by hurling himself towards the basket on clumsy drives. Harris, Martin and Jefferson did guard him this time around. They pushed, pulled, grabbed and harassed him into a 3-for-20 nightmare.

The one positive was that Pierce created a ton of contact on his forays to the rim, sending him to the line early and often. But, of course, he made just 11 of 20 throws.

The point to all of this is had Pierce not unnecessarily shot his mouth off about how the Nets couldn't guard him, he may not be in this mess right now. Of course, the Nets can't guard him. But we already knew that.

If Jason Kidd would have proclaimed that he would get a triple double in Games 1 and 2, the Celtics would have made it their business to box him out every time a shot went up. They would have collapsed on him like a cheap pup tent every time he set foot in the lane to keep him out of double figures.

If Pierce is lucky, this series will run long enough for the Nets to forget that they can't guard him. And long enough for him to get his J back. If he does, he'll get one more series and another chance not to tell people how good he is.

Chris Palmer is a staff writer for ESPN the Magazine.