Paul Pierce: Brooklyn Nets ‘match up with anyone’

The Brooklyn Nets got off to a disaster of a start this season.

After acquiring future Hall-of-Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics, the Nets hoped to be a legitimate title contender.

Instead, they got off to a 10-21 start.

Since then, the Nets are 26-10 and have climbed to fifth in the Eastern Conference. They are just 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the fourth seed (and they are tied in the loss column) and only trail the Toronto Raptors by 1.5 games for first place in the Atlanta Division and the third seed.

Pierce believes the Nets aren’t getting their due and can match up with anyone.

“Nobody is talking about us, but we feel like we match up with anybody in the league, especially in the Eastern Conference,” Pierce told Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. “Let the chips fall where they may.

“Come playoff time, we feel we can compete with the best of them, and we feel like we can be one of the better teams in the East, if not come out of the East, and we’ll be able to surprise a couple of teams.”

Pierce, 36, is averaging 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season.