Pierce was so dedicated to showing that he was a man of his word that his former Celtics teammate and fellow Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett appeared to come and check on him while driving by. After Garnett saw Pierce was OK, he just egged him on to keep going while Pierce chuckled:

Paul Pierce was hearing it from his buddy Kevin Garnett while paying off his guarantee on Thursday. Pierce had said on Wednesday’s edition of FS1 show “Speak” that the Boston Celtics would beat the New York Knicks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series later that night.

The Boston Celtics are in a jam, to put it midly. The Celtics blew back to back 20 point leads and now trail 2-0 in the second round. Certainly not what most had expected from the defending champions.