BOSTON -- There was a point when Paul Pierce was finished. Done. His body language said he simply didn't care. His actions -- missing free throws, bricking jump shots and dribbling balls off his feet -- were anything but those of a superstar.

	Paul Pierce's, right, shots finally fell in the fourth quarter Saturday.

For the last seven quarters in the Eastern Conference finals, he was an appauling 5-of-34 from the field. The joke on press row was that Pierce's inability to put the ball in the basket was eerily reminiscent of Chuck Knoblauch's inability to put a baseball in a first basemen's glove.

An exaggeration, sure, but the facts were unavoidable: The man who prior to the series said nobody on the Nets could stop him was being held in check by still air.

But then teammate and Celtics co-captain Antoine Walker lit a fire under Pierce, who helped carry his team to the greatest postseason comeback in NBA history.

But just as important as winning the ultra-significant Game 3, or doing so in the most grandiose of confidence-building fashions, is what Pierce's mind-boggling fourth quarter might do for his psyche the rest of this series.

In the Celtics' camp, the hope is that Pierce's play during the fourth quarter of Saturday's stunning comeback -- 19 points on 6-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line -- may be just what he needs to get on track.

Prior to Game 2, Pierce was 18-of-33 from the charity stripe and 12-of-39 from the floor.

"I hope so," Pierce said of the one quarter changing his individual fortunes. "I feel like we're in control of this series. And I just need to go out there and continue to be aggressive."

Through three quarters Saturday against the Nets, he was anything but. New Jersey played tenacious, swarming defense, quickly double-teaming Pierce seemingly the second he touched the ball.

But instead of find an open teammate or go to the basket looking to draw a foul, Pierce settled for outside jumpers. And ugly, unsuccessful ones at that.

After Walker laid into Pierce, challenging him to live up to his nickname "The Truth" and remind the Nets the caliber of player he is, Pierce went to the basket, splicing defenders in half and drawing contact.

"(Early on) once I got the ball and got into position, the double team would get to me too quick, without me making the quick move," Pierce said. "In the fourth quarter, I didn't do that. Once I recognized what I needed to do, I sorta kinda tried to mix up some drives from the perimeter, get some stuff on the fast break and then on isolation. I got myself into a nice rhythm."

In the games final five minutes in which the Celtics went on a 20-4 run, Pierce scored seven of the team's points. The only thing that could stop him? The bashing of his funny bone, which at one point forced head coach Jim O'Brien to call a timeout so Pierce could regain feeling in his numb arm.

"He came over and told us he couldn't feel anything," O'Brien said. "So we took a time out, gave him a minute and then he hit a big free throw."

It's nothing new. Pierce's importance to the Celtics is immeasurable. Even though he went 3-of-20 in Game 2 and Boston still won, that was quite the aberration. For the leprechauns to continue their success in this series and reach the NBA finals for the first time since the Bird -- McHale -- Parish era, they need the Pierce that ferociously attacked in the fourth quarter, not the one that lofted up careless jumpers the other three.

In the regular season, Pierce logged his career high 48 in a game against New Jersey. Forty-six of those came in the second half and overtime of a Boston win. In his career, he averages 37 a game against the Nets.

Yet even with Tuesday's 28 points, Pierce is averaging only 27.3 points per game against New Jersey in three postseason games.

You can almost feel the restlessness from Nets fans who know that No. 34 -- the player that led the NBA in points this past season -- is "due."

"The odds are on his side," Nets forward Kenyon Martin admitted before Game 3. "He takes so many shots that he's bound to make a few of them."

In the regular season, Pierce led all players in fourth-quarter points with 552, accounting for 27 percent of Boston's final period scoring output. He was the only Celtic to start all 82 games and was the first since Larry Bird to score 2,000 points in consecutive seasons.

"That's my man right there," Boston center Eric Williams said. "He's been the catalyst for our team the whole year. He was struggling a little bit early on, but just like that he can break out in a big game. Now I look forward to seeing more of that."

So do the rest of the Celtics.

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.