Paul Pierce continued to work his way out of his recent shooting slump Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons, and point guard John Wall continued his fantastic start to the season with another big performance.

But after The Washington Wizards’ 107-103 win over the Pistons, The Truth gave all praise to the bench. Rasual Butler poured on 18 points and Kris Humphries added 12 and nine rebounds to boost the Wiz to victory.

Detroit Pistons v Washington Wizards

“Our bench was huge,” Paul said. “They really got us back in the game. Rasual gave us a big offensive lift. When we kind of struggled, he shot the ball really well. Kris with his energy—and that’s what we’re going to need all year long. Even Kevin Seraphin, everybody who came in all the way down the line. This is what our team is about. It’s about our depth, our ability to go to our bench to carry the load some nights.”

The D.C. reserves outscored Detroit’s bench 39-25. No. 34 chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds and two dimes off 5-of-11 shooting, while Wall went for a 27-point 11-assist double-double, and the Wiz needed every point on this night.

Detroit Pistons v Washington Wizards

Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings went off for a season-high 32 points, including 21 in the first half. It was clear from the opening gun that Jennings was in for a big night. He went 6-of-8 for 16 points in the first quarter, connecting on 3-of-4 from deep.

Detroit shot 71.4 percent from three and 56.5 percent from the field in the first. Wall countered with eight points in what was a thrilling point guard matchup, while Paul added five points, two boards and an assist. The Truth knocked down the game’s first bucket, a 20-footer off a feed from Garrett Temple. The vet then paid it forward, dishing to Gortat for two.

No. 34 followed that up with a trifecta off a feed from Wall, one of three opening quarter assists from the D.C. point guard. Despite the efforts John-Paul duo, Jennings’ enormous first was too much to overcome, and Detroit took a 34-24 lead into the second.

After playing all 12 minutes of the first, Jennings played just four in the second quarter but still tallied five points. The Truth continued his solid night, adding four points and two boards to his totals, while Wall came through with seven and another three assists.

It was also in the second where the D.C. bench began to heat up. Humphries chipped in five points, while Butler scored seven off a perfect 3-of-3 shooting. Through Butler and Hump, the Wiz were able to flip the script in the second. They shot 65 percent from the field and outscored Detroit 33-25, cutting the halftime deficit to just two points.

A major factor in the game was Washington’s ability to limit Detroit’s star center, Andre Drummond to just two points, five rebounds and two blocks. Drummond was in foul trouble throughout the contest and played just 23 minutes. Afterward, Paul explained how the Wizards were able to silence the 7-footer.

“We were just aggressive,” The Truth said. “We have pretty good offensive bigs so we just try to go to them. We tired to get Andre Drummond into pick and rolls, we feel like that’s a weakness of his, and it worked out that way. Our bigs were really aggressive going to the rack and (Drummond) was picking up fouls.”

The Wizards got to the line 33 times, though they converted those trips to just 24 points—one of the team’s weaknesses through this early part of the season.

After halftime, the Jennings-Wall point guard showdown continued. The two fought to a draw in the third, each turning in nine points. Jennings worked largely off the pick-and-roll all night, and Paul revealed a strategic change the Wiz made in the second half.

Rather than allowing Jennings to step back and launch threes like in the first half, the D.C. defense increased its pressure on the Detroit guard, making him drive and earn his points.

“I though we did a better job of helping,” Paul said. “A lot of times when he got into a pick and roll, we backed off our bigs and let him just shoot the jumper. In the second half, we made him drive the ball a little more tried to make him finish at the rim or kick to other guys, and we were able to slow him down that way.”

Also in the third, Paul started a 9-4 spurt and ended it with a highlight-reel dunk off a feed through the lane from center Marcin Gortat.

The Pistons started the fourth ahead 85-82, but in the end, the Wizards completed their comeback thanks to their defense and their bench.

Butler was on fire in the fourth, going 4-of-5 for 11 points, and while Paul didn’t make a basket in the final frame, he still found a way to make some big plays down the stretch. At the 2:12 mark, The Truth assisted on a go-ahead bucket by Gortat. He also pulled down three boards in the fourth, including two of the most important rebounds of the game.

When Detroit forward Kyle Singler’s free throw bounced off the rim with about 20 seconds left, No. 34 snuck in among the Pistons big men and grabbed the rebound, then immediately called time to give head coach Randy Wittman a chance to draw up a play with the Wizards up 103-101.

The Pistons fouled on the other end and Andre Miller hit just the back end of his two free throws to stretch the lead to 104-101.

Detroit Pistons v Washington Wizards

Detroit then flew down the court and made a quick layup, cutting the lead back down to two. After the inbound, the Pistons sent Wall to the foul line with just seven seconds to go. The D.C. point guard knocked down the first but drew the back iron on the second.

Then, who would it be to out-jump and out-hustle everybody on the court for the rebound? Of course it was The Truth making the clutch play for Washington by reaching up and tapping the ball back to an awaiting Butler near midcourt. Butler then took the foul, drained the free throws, and the game was over.

After closing out not only his own big game, but also the victory, Butler praised the tenacious play, as well as the leadership brought by The Truth.

“He’s always making winning basketball plays, he dove on the floor tonight two or three times,” Butler said. “He has a very high basketball IQ as well. It was a big defensive rebound he got, when he tipped it to himself, then he couldn’t get the offensive rebound, so he tipped it out.”

“Paul Pierce, his leadership is, in the locker room and on the basketball floor, it’s second to none.”

While defense ultimately spelled the difference in the final frame, where Washington held Detroit to just 18 points and 30 percent shooting, No. 34 left the contest wanting more consistent defensive effort out of his squad.

“We make it harder on ourselves, sometimes,” The Truth said after the game. “We dig in for short periods of times, and then we slack off on defense. It’s something we have to be able to do for 48 minutes. We had our run at the end of the second quarter, but we played defense in spurts and it can’t be like that.”

NEXT UP

Paul and the Wizards (6-2) get another few days off before continuing their four-game homestand.

The Orlando Magic (3-6) come to Washington on Saturday, a game that begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sports Net.

After that game, Washington has three more days off before the currently 5-3 Dallas Mavericks come to town the following Wednesday.

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