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The whispers continue to grow louder, and the talk of Paul Pierce’s days being done as the Celtics’ closer continue to become more pronounced.  The critics say that Pierce is too old to create his own shot anymore, that he can’t create the separation needed to finish the job.  Against OKC, at least for one night, we got to see Pierce prove the skeptics wrong.  He was able to get that shot off, and he was able to leave a huge imprint on a game the Celtics badly needed to win.

But, what next?  Father Time has a way of dulling the reflexes, of robbing an elite athlete of the gifts that make him special.  Pierce is not immune to this slow assault, and while he was able to turn back the clock against the Thunder, he now faces the challenge of doing it again against the Magic.  And then again against the next opponent.  And again. And again. And again.

Don’t know about you, but I don’t think Pierce can keep it up.  He certainly isn’t embarrassing himself – when Dr. J lost his mojo the 76ers moved him from small forward to shooting guard…even though the great Julius Erving didn’t have an outside game to speak of.

Pierce won’t suffer the same fate.  He can score.  He can hit jumpers.

But can he do it consistently, with elite defenders in his grill?

We shall see.

Tonight it’s the Magic’s turn to slow down the ever-slowing Truth.

Hopefully, Pierce will be able to beat back Father Time yet again.

And then he’