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Poor Paul Pierce Got His Ankles Broken By A Crossover Again

Paul Pierce is still a pretty damn good player (19.7 points, 5.6 boards, 1.5 steals, 19.17 PER so far this season), which is especially impressive for a guy who just turned 35. But lately – over the last week in particular – he’s been having this problem. A problem defending against crossover dribble moves, to be exact. On Sunday, you might remember, Jameer Nelson did this to him. And apparently the Nets’ Joe Johnson was watching intently:

“That was like a cobra there, and a mongoose.” Well, sure. Who didn’t watch that move and immediately think of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi“? Natural comparison.

And this time, Pierce didn’t even get a win to wash away the pain – the Nets beat the Celtics 95-83. After the back-to-back Nelson and Johnson episodes, it has to be open season on guys trying to cross Pierce over, right? The move can’t be that wildly successful twice in successive games without guys around the league taking notice, so the Truth is, Pierce better be ready for more opponents trying this same thing. Here’s Johnson’s move in gif form:

[SB Nation]

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