In the great and weighty acts of sporting heroism that have characterised the nine previous NBA Finals clashes between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers over the past four decades, Paul Pierce’s contribution in the early hours of Friday morning may be modest.

Yet the Boston guard's mid-game return from what looked like a match, if not series, ending injury was undoubtedly the key factor in the Celtics enjoying a successful return to Finals action after an almost implausibly long 21-year hiatus.

Pierce finished with 22 points in Boston’s 98-88 Game One victory over the Lakers in the best-of-seven series after returning from a visit to the treatment table, forced upon him when he twisted his knee awkwardly in a collision with team-mate Kendrick Perkins.

After his own worst initial fears were dismissed, Pierce returned to the game following a two-minute absence and immediately hit two three-pointers to press Boston into a 75-71 lead.

The passionate and long-suffering Boston crowd, which had erupted when Pierce returned to the court from the locker room, ratcheted up their contribution to even greater decibel levels and the Celtics were able to ride that wave of emotion all the way to an eventually comfortable win.

“We saw him being carried off and we didn’t know what the situation was. We kept asking, ‘Is he alright?’” said team-mate Kevin Garnett, who tied with LA’s Kobe Bryant as the game’s top scorer with 24 points.

“When he came back out you just heard the noise of the crowd. He was walking, he was up on his own strength and he rejuvenated us to the point where he gave everybody life.”

Later, Pierce would confess that his own initial instant diagnosis was even more pessimistic than Garnett’s. “When I first fell to the ground I heard a pop in my knee and all I felt was pain when I grabbed it,” he said. “At that point I thought I had torn something.

“I thought that was it. A lot of things go through your mind and once I heard the pop and I couldn’t move it, I thought that was it. A lot was going through my mind, I was like, ‘Man, it can’t be over like this.’

“I think God just sent this angel down and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be alright! You need to get back out there. Show them what you can do.”

Pierce had already done precisely that in the opening seconds of the third period, even before his enforced departure from the contest. At that point, LA held a 51-46 interval lead, despite Bryant having scored only eight points on 3/10 shooting.

Given the 29-year-old’s tendency to be more productive later on in games, Boston appeared in a weak position until Pierce opened the half with a rare four-point play and a regular bucket which erased LA’s lead in seconds.

Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, sounded fairly bitter in his sarcastic analysis of Pierce’s “miracle” recovery but there was also a large dose of accuracy in his description.

“You never know what happens when a guy goes out [of] the game,” he said. “Guys can break a shoelace and go out, their pants can break down, their drawstring falls apart.

“Pierce was back on the floor in three minutes so he wasn’t that long out of the game. That’s overstated. What helped them out were those two threes that he hit, not coming back out on the floor.”

More worrying for Jackson than the inevitable mini-saga that will now surround Pierce’s fitness for Sunday’s Game Two was the form of Bryant. Although more productive in the second half, the Lakers guard still missed 17 of the game-high 26 shots which he attempted.

For his part, Bryant, ever the competitor, sounded unconcerned by his team’s series deficit. “You have to adjust as the series goes on and this is a good experience for us,” he said. “It’s a nice little kick in the ass!

“I had some great looks at the basket but the shots just didn’t stay down. I’ll just pile this in with the other bad shooting games I’ve had and flush it. I just missed some bunnies. I missed some really, really good looks and I’ll be thinking about those tonight.”