From Bill Plaschke of the LA Times: He lay in a heap on the parquet floor, visibly weeping into the silk-suited sleeve of his doctor. He was pushed in a wheelchair down a narrow back hallway, head down, season over. Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics captain, was carried from the opening game of the NBA Finals in the third quarter Thursday with an apparent serious knee injury that momentarily deadened and distracted the Lakers. At which point, Pierce came running back to finish them off. To nearly 50 years of delicious Celtics-Lakers lore, add a new apparent bit of chicanery.

Call it the Fake N'Shake. The Celtics won Game 1, 98-88, on the momentum of a recovery that smacked more of professional wrestling than professional basketball. He was so hurt, he immediately began sprinting around the stunned Lakers defenders. He was in such pain, he hit consecutive three pointers late in the period that gave the Celtics the lead for good. C'mon!

Congratulations to Bill Plaschke for burying the needle on the IronyMeter. Here's an LA sportswriter accusing a confirmed, card-carrying NBA warrior like Paul Pierce of being a fraud. Los Angeles is the Fraud Capital of the World. Their chief export is Perpetuated Myths and LA sportwriters are the leading manufacturers. I don't read much Bill Plaschke, but I guarandamntee you he's written piece after fawning piece about Zen Master Phil Jackson and his brilliant intellect. There's no doubt in my mind that he lapped up every word of it when Kobe, in that quiet, tender moment in front of a hundred reporters, told his wife "you're a piece of my heart, the air I breathe." I'm certain Plaschke is one of those writers who created this myth of Tommy Lasorda as the lovable old baseball granddad, bleeding Dodger Blue and spinning yarns about Pee Wee Reese, when in reality he was nothing but a foul-mouthed, Viagra-popping whore chaser. I'm sure he wrote plenty of sycophantic puff pieces about Magic Johnson: Humanitarian was while they guy was banging UCLA coeds four at a time. Los Angeles sportswriters are the last people on Earth who should be talking about faking anything. Go F- yourself, Plaschke. C'mon!