Paul Pierce is standing by his former team after they failed to get past the second round of the 2025 Eastern Conference playoffs. After the Boston Celtics lost to the New York Knicks 119-81 on Friday night—a defeat that officially eliminated them from the postseason and stopped their NBA title defense in its tracks—Pierce took to a livestream and pushed back on some Knicks fans who were talking smack.

On Friday, the Boston Celtics’ season came to an end with a blowout loss to the New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics were playing without Jayson Tatum, who ruptured his Achilles in Game 4 of the series,