There's mixed reaction to Paul Pierce's knee injury and return. (Check the video.) Was the Celtics forward legitimately hurt on the play, or did he exaggerate the moment? What they're saying out in the ether about the the Truth's comeback ...

The Association: "In my book when you knock knees with someone you stop for a second, rub it and get back in the game. In Paul Pierce's book, you drop to the floor, do a Nancy Kerrigan impression, get carried off in the Dwyane Wade Memorial Wheelchair, sit in the locker room for the next five minutes, return to give the extremely gullible media a Willis Reed moment (but not a moment) and return to play a normal fourth quarter. Paul Pierce was and is not hurt! He was never hurt. He bumped his knee and got wheeled off the floor."

CelticsBlog.com: "When something pops in your knee, you don't mess around with it. You stay down and you get it looked at immediately. There was no grandstanding here. The man was scared out of his mind [...] When he figured out that he could put his weight on the leg, he got some hope back. Then obviously the adrenaline started pumping and he was ready to give it a shot. This isn't the first time we've heard of this. We've seen players play the second half of a game with a broken foot or wrist or whatever.  Paul wasn't trying to be Willis Reed or Larry Bird. He wasn't trying to be a hero. He just wanted to get back out there and help his team win ... which he did. So the end result was that he was the hero and that's the truth. No amount of sour grapes is going to take that away."

Britt Robson, The Rake: "... let's remember two facts: Pierce was sidelined with the knee injury for a grand total of 1:45 — just 105 seconds — during which time the Celts outscored the Lakers 6-0. So, yes, losing Pierce for the rest of the game, let alone the series, would have been a steep challenge for Boston to overcome, but the net effect of the whole thing was great bonus to the Celts — players have sat because of foul trouble a lot longer than Pierce was in the locker room, so his actual absence was negligible in terms of court time, yet the psychological advantage of first facing the prospect of going into crunchtime without your assassin, and then having that daunting prospect suddenly vanish was all mental gravy."

The World Of Isaac: "If I hear one more reference to Paul Pierce pulling a Willis Reed last night, I'm going to hang myself. Willis Reed was legitimately hurt when he limped out onto the floor in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. He was hurt so bad, he couldn't play more than 15 minutes that game. He was dragging his leg as he ran up the court. Pierce was carried off to the locker room because he said he heard a pop but miraculously his "injured knee" didn't stop him from taking one of the worst flops I've ever seen on Derek Fisher. It was as if he transformed himself into the black version of Manu Ginobili. Truly an embarrassment to basketball."

Red's Army: "To hear Paul describe a “pop” and pain in the inner knee makes me think there is some kind of tear in the meniscus or medial collateral ligament. That’s purely a guess on my part … and it might just be a sprain. However, people can play with mild meniscus or MCL injuries … usually with a big brace on the knee. Pierce had another “moment” last night. It’s another lasting memory in the minds of young fans that they’ll romanticize later in life when they talk about their favorite player going into the Hall of Fame.  These playoffs are full of those “moments” for Paul Pierce … whether Plaschke likes them or not."

Josh Q. Public: "Everybody’s been comparing [Pierce's injury] to Willis Reed. I disagree. Mike Wilpon alluded to it. I was there. I was there where the real similarity took place. I was there when Larry Bird’s head bounced off the Parquet with a thump. [...] I was there in 1991 against the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. Boston led by ten after the first quarter, but the Pacers tied it at 58-all by halftime.  Late in the second quarter, Bird crashed to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball. His head bounced hard off the parquet. He stayed down.  Stayed down. Stayed down for what seemed like an eternity. Then he headed to the locker room. And just like last night, Boston gasped a collective gasp. Bird did not return with his teammates for the start of the third quarter. When he finally came through the tunnel in the third quarter, the Garden crowd erupted. It was electric. Boogie oogie oogie.  Just like last night."

Free Darko (comments): Doug: "... was I the only one slightly mystified by the pageantry with which the Celtic's staff carried Pierce off the court? They couldn't bring the wheelchair out from the tunnel?" DLIC: "I mean, even in the most non-wheelchair-necessary of situations, they usually do the thing where the injured guy puts each arm around a separate trainer/coach/etc and limps off."

Intentional Foul: "... according to Around the Horn’s Bill Plaschke, we and the Lakers were duped by some WWE-style trickeration. OK, let’s think about that implication for second. In order for this to occur, it would have to be premeditated to a degree. This means Pierce made a conscience decision to fake his injury at just the right time in order to get the crowd going. How would something like this happen? Does Doc Rivers tell one of his best players to keep his eye on the pulse of the crowd and if it falls below a certain energy level, wait for Kendrick Perkins to accidentally make contact with your leg, fall down in agony, get dragged back to the locker room and make a triumphant, crowd-pleasing return a few minutes later. But wait, there’s more — after you return, hit two 3-point bombs to give your team the momentum when the fourth quarter starts. Yeah, that seems plausible … likely even."

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