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In battle of the Pauls, Pierce claims Millsap as his latest trolling victim

In battle of the Pauls, Pierce claims Millsap as his latest trolling victim

The Paul Pierce troll tour continues in Atlanta.

A week removed from celebrating a sweep of the Toronto Raptors with a series of Internet memes, the Washington Wizards veteran wasted little time setting his "cold-blooded" sights on the Atlanta Hawks.

Pierce's latest punchline requires a bit of a setup, courtesy of Hawks forward Paul Millsap during a post-practice interview with CSNWashington.com's J. Michael following Washington's Game 1 comeback win.

"We played well enough to win the game," he said after Monday's practice. "Internally, we felt like we won the game. A few crucial mistakes. A few plays let them back in the game."

When told of Millsap's take on the loss, Pierce had the same reaction most folks did — utter confusion.

For the record, Michael and the media gathered at Monday's practice asked Millsap to clarify his position.

"Let me be specific, we feel good about it. Ten-point lead going into halftime. Come back out, took some good shots, missed some open shots. Wasn't as aggressive as we needed to be. We feel good about it."

This may be Millsap's first go-round as a favorite in the conference semifinals, but at age 37 Pierce has seen enough playoff series to know blowing a double-digit lead and homecourt advantage in Game 1 to a team that has won five straight playoff contests and is building confidence by the day is never good.

Granted, the sentiment behind Millsap's statement is understandable — that the Hawks should fare better so long as they don't shoot 38 percent again — and Atlanta should play with more urgency in Game 2 on Tuesday night, but it sure is enjoyable watching Pierce troll his way through another playoff series.

After all, there's no telling when the Truth will be silenced for good. Internally, that'll be a loss for the NBA.

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Ben Rohrbach

is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!