Stop asking questions about Paul Pierce. That is the message coming from Greivis Vasquez and the Raptors heading into Game 2 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Pierce starred as the Wizards trumped the Raptors 93-86 in overtime on Saturday, but the 37-year-old may have done most of the damage pre-game.
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The 2008 NBA champion angered Toronto fans and became public enemy No. 1 when he said the Raptors "didn't have the 'It' (factor) that makes you worried" in an interview with ESPN earlier in the week.
Pierce's comments did not go unnoticed by Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri, who was fined $35,000 for using obscene language in a public setting during a pre-game rally outside Air Canada Centre.
"I'll tell you this is the last day I'm going to answer anything about Paul Pierce," Vasquez told reporters on Sunday. "Paul Pierce is a Hall of a Famer. I give him a lot of credit, he got everybody's attention. If we keep talking about Paul Pierce this is going to be a Paul Pierce series, not the Wizards.
"What he's doing is motivating his team, talking trash, so why would we talk trash? We don't have any trash talkers in our locker room."
Vasquez added: "We give him a lot of credit, he's got big balls, that's the reason he's The Truth," referring to Pierce's nickname.