Toronto newspaper on 'same old' Pierce: 'From dinosaur to wizard'

Paul Pierce likely never envisioned that the last great personal rivalry of his career would be with the entire city of Toronto, but here we are.

Last year around this time, Pierce played a starring role in helping a veteran laden Brooklyn Nets team outlast the surprising young Raptors in seven games.

The beginning of that series saw the Toronto Sun mock Pierce's (and Kevin Garnett's) advanced age with a memorable "Raptors vs. Dinosaurs" cover.

A year later, with Pierce's Washington Wizards in town to begin their first-round series against the Raptors, the Sun is at it again.

Pierce renewed the rivalry earlier this week, before first-round matchups had even been set, when he said the Raptors lack the "it" factor to worry the Wizards.

Since then, DeMar DeRozan essentially warned Pierce to be careful what he wishes for, General Manager Masai Ujiri - of "F-Brooklyn" fame - said he doesn't have enough money to respond to Pierce, and Amir Johnson compared the aging Pierce's need for trash talk to a man's need for Viagra.

Add it all up, and there's plenty of bad blood beginning to boil ahead of Saturday's 12:30 ET Game 1 tip.