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Paul Pierce follows through on bet to walk 20 miles to work after Celtics' Game 2 loss to Knicks

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater05/08/25samdg_33
Paul Pierce
Peter Casey | Imagn Images

Paul Pierce was confident yesterday that the Boston Celtics would tie their second-round series in the NBA Playoffs at 1-1 with a win in Game 2 against the New York Knicks. Instead, the Knicks beat the Celtics 91-90 last night. As a result, he’s having to pay off a long bet this morning in Los Angeles.

While on Speak yesterday on FOX, Pierce guaranteed a Game 2 win for Boston, to the point where he bet he’d walk to the studio tomorrow for work if they lost. Now, with Wednesday’s loss, Pierce was up early this morning to get his steps in as he began his journey after posting the route last night on social media. He’s since been posting updates to his Instagram story.

“If the Celtics lose Game 2 at home, I promise you I’m walking here tomorrow. I’m walking here! I’m walking here. 15 miles! I’m walking here, in my robe, no shoes on, bare feet if the Celtics lose tonight,” said Pierce. “I’m walking! I’m telling you right now! Nah, I’m taking this serious. Nah, nah, nah. Ain’t no way. In a robe, barefoot. I’ll be up at three.”

“I guarantee this one. Put the house on this game. Put the house on it. Put the house on it. No shot we losing. No chance,” Pierce continued. “You’ve got a better chance at walking out of the studio and seeing a dinosaur than the Celtics losing.”

Boston earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 61-21 record. They advanced out of the first round with a 4-1 series win over the Orlando Magic to set up this semifinal against New York.

However, the Celtics, despite sweeping them in the regular season and leading by as much as 20 points in both Game 1 and Game 2, lost both games. New York came back in the fourth quarter and won Game 1 108-105 in overtime behind big outings from Jalen Brunson (29 points, five assists), OG Anunoby (29 points), and Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points, 13 rebounds). The Knicks then made another fourth-quarter comeback in Game 2 to win 91-90 after a clutch fourth quarter from Mikal Bridges, including a final stop with a deflection on Jayson Tatum.

Boston had outscored New York 157-136 through the first three quarters of Game 1 and Game 2. But, in the fourth quarters and one overtime, the Knicks have outscored the Celtics 63-38. That’s been just enough for New York to get out of TD Garden with a 2-0 lead. They’ll now have a chance to take full control of the series, if not win it in a sweep, with Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday inside Madison Square Garden.

As an all-time player for the Celtics, Pierce likely wouldn’t have made any other pick for Game 2. He’s now having to pay for it with a 20-mile hike to finish between now and when he’s supposed to be on-air again this afternoon on FS1.