At the end of his first home game with the Washington Wizards, Paul Pierce ended up with the game ball, and his team ended up with the win—an ideal ending for The Truth’s D.C. debut.

But the way No. 34 and the Wiz arrived at that conclusion certainly wasn’t a part of the plan.

Just before halftime of his first regular season home contest at the Verizon Center, Paul was whistled for a clear-path foul, and he took exception to the call. While pleading his case to referees following the call, The Truth was charged with back-to-back technical fouls, ending his night before the end of the second quarter.

Milwaukee Bucks v Washington Wizards

With Paul out of the lineup, it led to a big night from Otto Porter Jr., who turned in 21 points in 37 minutes off the bench. After his team closed out the 108-97 victory, Washington coach Randy Wittman pulled a locker room surprise, awarding the game ball to No. 34.

“We gave the game ball to Paul Pierce tonight and Otto ought to thank Paul for getting thrown out,” Wittman quipped.

Porter, who heard is name ringing from the Verizon Center rafters by night’s end, did just as his coach suggested.

“He took one for the team,” Porter said of Paul’s ejection.

Pierce was well on his way to filling up the stat sheet again before being unceremoniously removed from the game. He scored two points, dished out four assists, and grabbed three rebounds and a steal in his 17 minutes of play.

Though he missed the entire second half, The Truth made his mark in the first, and left Washington with a five-point lead when he was ejected. That was enough for the Wizards, who never surrendered the lead, despite some hot shooting by Milwaukee point guards Brandon Knight and Jerryd Bayless, who combined for 44 points.

Wizards point guard John Wall also picked up a technical foul in a game that was riddled with them; seven were given out in total, only two of which were defensive three-seconds calls.

“I didn’t know you could get a technical just for talking,” Wall said. “Usually you say more and you get a tech, but that’s something the refs decided on so my coaches told me that I already had one and I’m more valuable to my team than getting a second one after we already lost Paul, so whatever they did, I was just cool with it after I got one.”

The Truth was not especially demonstrative in his own argument, and the two technicals he received stunned everyone in the stadium, as well as those watching on TV. Both in the immediate aftermath of the ejection and after the game, there seemed to be widespread confusion as to why No. 34 was thrown out.

Head Coach Randy Wittman gave his account of the situation after the game, which helped clarify what happened when Paul committed the foul after the turnover.

“Paul didn’t have any idea there was a guy that far ahead of him,” Wittman said. “He thought it was him and the guy with the ball … so it was the right call. Paul is thinking it was just he and the guy that he fouled, and that wouldn’t have been a breakaway. So he’s sitting there telling me, ‘I don’t understand why they’re looking at this, it wasn’t even close to being a breakaway.’ And I didn’t really see it, either. Then when it was announced that it was a breakaway, Paul, after sitting there for 10 minutes stewing, he lost his composure a little bit. I didn’t think he deserved the second one, I thought that was too quick … it was nothing in terms of profanity or going after any of the officials for the second one, so I was a little upset with the second one.”

Luckily for Paul and the already-shorthanded Wizards, The Truth wasn’t needed to close out the Bucks. In his stead, Washington put together a full-team effort on both offense and defense, and plenty of players had something to be happy about.

Porter continued his strong start to his second pro season, with a career-high 21 points and five rebounds while playing every minute of the second half in relief of The Truth. Toward the end of the game, the Verizon Center crowd was chanting the second-year small forward’s name.

NEXT UP

After a brief stop at home, Paul and the Wizards hit the road again next week when they up I-95 to New York to take on the New York Knicks (2-1) on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The game will be Washington’s third game on the road of their first four, part of a season-opening run that features five road matchups in the first seven games.

The Knicks will be riding two great Eastern Conference wins into the game after topping the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Hornets Thursday and Sunday. The Wizards beat the Knicks in all three of their meetings last season, including two victories at Madison Square Garden.

The two East contenders are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff. The game will be broadcast locally on CSN Washington and in the New York area on MSG Network.

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