Wiz Beat Nugs, Fall to C's - The Official Web Site of Paul Pierce

After the Washington Wizards notched a big Friday night win against the Denver Nuggets, Paul Pierce had a homecoming against his longtime team, the Boston Celtics.

His new team fell to his old squad in a close 101-93 tilt, but through the weekend, he learned and showed just how comfortable he is in his new city. Over the weekend, he revealed how he has been able to move forward and focus on this next stage in his career for a team that has its sights set on a long postseason run.

“The team has really embraced me, the city has really embraced me in Washington,” The Truth said after the loss in Boston. “The young fellas have excepted me with open arms.”

“When you look at the numbers, you see a lot of similarities to teams that have made long playoff runs and some that have made it to the Finals,” he said Friday night. “We just have to keep building on things that we’ve got, continue to get better and right now we’re a work in progress and we’re just going to keep building…but we like where we’re at right now.”

D.C. DROPS DENVER

Coming off three straight wins, the Wizards were confident ahead of their meeting with the Nuggets, and it showed.

Paul teamed up with Bradley Beal for a combined 19 points off 7-of-12 shooting, and John Wall dished out five assists, including three on back-to-back-to-back threes by Beal. Washington used that to take an early 30-28 lead.

In the second, the Wiz took off. Kris Humphries and Rasual Butler combined for 20 points, and Paul and the Washington defense clamped down, holding Denver to just 18 points off 34.8 percent shooting.

The Truth pulled down five rebounds in this frame, and afterward he talked about how, when the Wiz lean on their defensive identity, that allows the team to succeed offensively.

“That’s what I’ve been saying for the last week or two,” Paul said. “When we’re playing well, we’re playing great defense. That’s what we hang our hat on every night. Right now, I think we’re starting to put them both together. We’re starting to score the ball really well and play very well on defense. And that’s why you’re seeing the results we’re getting.”

The Wiz took a 65-46 lead into halftime, and they stuck right to that philosophy in the third quarter. They quieted the normally loud Denver attack once again, limiting it to just 23 points on 35.3 percent from the field.

With Washington holding a 90-69 lead going into the fourth quarter, Paul and the rest of the starting five watched while the reserves only extend the lead in the final 12 minutes. Kevin Seraphin and Butler combined for 19 points, and the Wizards cruised to a 119-89 victory.

No. 34 tallied 11 points, six rebounds and two steals while playing just 20 minutes at the Verizon Center. D.C. dished out an incredible 35 assists in the win—a dynamic that, as Paul pointed out, almost always leads to victory for his squad.

“Y’all see what our identity is,” Paul said to the media. “We’re a team that moves the ball, makes the extra passes. That’s the reason why we’re one of the best passing teams in the league. We’re a team that defends and holds teams under 100. That’s why we’re one of the better defensive teams in the league. And when we play that way consistently, most of the time we win.”

BEATEN IN BOSTON

After 15 seasons and one NBA championship in Boston, Paul will always have love for the Celtics.

“It’s always probably going to be weird, just coming up in this arena,” he said. “Just landing in the airport, driving through the city, taking a left instead of a right into the locker room.”

Sunday afternoon, The Truth made that left turn in to the visitor’s locker room at Boston’s TD Garden, and he came ready to play, tallying 16 points, three rebounds, an assist and a block, but the Wizards fell behind early and couldn’t overcome a big deficit.

Washington coughed up 19 turnovers, five more than their season average, which was the ultimate thorn in the team’s side.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot early by committing silly turnovers,” The Truth said. “We’re at our best when we defend and don’t turn the ball over.”

Nine of those turnovers came in the first frame and led to 10 points for Boston. The Wizards shot just 25 percent and the Celtics jumped out to a 24-15 lead. The turnover issue was remedied in the second, but the Wiz were still cold from the field, hitting just 36.4 percent of their shots.

Meanwhile, Marcus Thornton, a teammate of Paul’s from Brooklyn led Boston with 11 points, and the C’s stretched their lead to 17 at the break, 53-36. Despite the cold start, The Truth insisted that the Wiz weren’t overlooking the sub-.500 Celtics and praised the team’s high-octane offense.

“We don’t overlook anybody,” Paul said. “We haven’t proven anything yet. We’re still trying to earn some respect around the league, as a team, as a franchise.”

The third quarter was similar, as the Wizards just couldn’t find their shot. This time, it was Boston’s Jeff Green who posted 11 points, and Boston entered the fourth quarter with a 77-59 lead.

The Celtics led by as many as 25 in that third frame, but The Truth approached the fourth determined to spark a comeback against his former team. Washington opened the final period with a 17-6 run, and in less than three minutes had cut the deficit to just six.

That explosive stretch featured five three-pointers, including two by No. 34 to cap it, but did not put away the resilient Celtics, who responded with an 8-2 run of their own. The Wizards then scored 10 straight points to pull with two again, and heading into the final minute, Washington trailed by just one point.

With a chance to take the lead, the Wizards looked to The Truth for a clutch basket. Paul just barely rimmed out on a three after a classic pump fake to draw the defender away. Washington couldn’t score for the rest of the game, and the Celtics held on to spoil Paul’s return.

Even though they failed to complete the comeback, The Truth went away proud of how his team battled after facing an enormous deficit.

“We gave ourselves a chance after being down most of the day,” Paul said. “After being down 20, we had shots to tie and shots to take the lead. That just shows something about the fight in this ball club.”

NEXT UP

After the defeat in The Truth’s former home, the Wizards (13-6) will once again take on his former team for game two of the home-and-home doubleheader, the Boston Celtics (7-11) Monday night, this time at the Verizon Center.

If The Truth puts up eight or more points, he will pass former Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller for 16th place on the NBA all-time scoring list.

Monday’s game will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sports Net and is scheduled for a 7 p.m. EST tip.