Turnaround Teams Meet

Paul Pierce proclaimed the Nets can’t stop him, a boast even New Jersey admits might be true.

His Celtic co-star, Antoine Walker, has feuded with New Jersey Coach Byron Scott, whose distaste for Boston dates to his playing days.

The Eastern Conference finals might not have the glamour and star power of its all-California counterpart in the West. But there is a history between the teams, along with some running of the mouths, that could help make it almost as interesting as the King-Laker matchup billed by some as the true NBA championship series.

“They had a great season like us. They had a big turnaround, too,” Scott said. “They’ve done a fantastic job to get to this point. It’s going to be a war.”

No team has had a bigger about-face than the Nets, who flip-flopped last season’s 26-52 record and went 52-26 this season to earn the No. 1 seeding in the East.

About the only team whose turnaround compares is Boston, which also missed the playoffs last season while enduring Rick Pitino’s departure.

No matter who wins this series, which begins Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PDT, it will mark the first time since 1978 that a team that failed to qualify for the postseason the previous year will make it to the NBA Finals.

Pierce, the league’s third-leading scorer, believes he’s the main reason the Celtics will eliminate the Nets.

“I don’t think they have anybody that can really defend me,” Pierce said.

Pierce averaged 37 points in four games against New Jersey this season, with Boston winning three of them.

Scott walked onto the court during a fracas in a Net-Celtic game earlier this season and was yelled at by Walker.

Said Scott, whose personal history against the Celtics includes the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era, when he was a member of the Lakers: “That green and white still doesn’t sit that well with me.”