After Paul Pierce fouled out with 38.2 seconds remaining, he took a seat on the Celtics' bench and began the painful process of unlacing and removing his right sneaker. For almost the entire game, the size-15 Nike kept Pierce in the game by preventing his mildly sprained right ankle from swelling.

Pierce suffered the sprain with 5:10 remaining in the first quarter when he stepped on Smush Parker. He returned less than two minutes after suffering the injury, though he clearly could not move as fluidly or aggressively as usual.