Upon an Injury?

In the third quarter of last night’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Celtics star Paul Pierce sustained what looked to be a terrible injury. Boston center Kendrick Perkins went up for a rebound, and appeared to land on Pierce’s right leg. Pierce crumpled to the court and lay there writhing in agony. When Pierce did not get up, trainers carried him off the court, and he was placed in a wheelchair and taken to the locker room.

The clock was at 6:48 when Paul Pierce left the game. The clock was at 5:03 when Pierce checked back into the game. While basketball time does not move in real-time, that is 1:43 of game-time missed. He proceeded to score 7 points in the quarter, including back to back three-pointers, which he followed up by snarling and hopping up the court.

Here is my confusion:

Pierce is so hurt, and in so much pain, he needs to be carried off the court like a parapalegic…yet he is back 5 mins later and pounding his chest and hopping up and down after 3’s? He played a good game to be sure, but how can you act like a tough-guy if you were crying on the floor 5 mins ago. He didnt even do the Scalabrine on one side, assistant coach on the other one-leg hop off the court… he was in a freaking wheelchair!

On the other side, when the camrea was low-panning the court and Garnett looked right in the lens with a “I may kill somebody tonight” look, that was genuine. Unless the Lakers can grab Anthony Peeler, Garnett may make all the difference in the games in Boston.