Wiz Shut Down Spurs

During his first year as a member of the Washington Wizards, Paul Pierce hasn’t hesitated to speak up and instruct some of his younger teammates during crucial moments. Another such moment arose on Tuesday morning, and Paul seized an opportunity to exercise the veteran leadership, which has been so valuable to Washington this season.

The Wizards were reeling after being wiped out in the fourth quarter by the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. But as the team prepared for shootaround on Tuesday ahead of their contest against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, The Truth didn’t sense the attitude he was eager to see in his squad. So he once again spoke up and set the tone for a big turnaround for his team.

“I said it this morning. There was a little bit of laughing in the locker room. There was only a couple guys in there and I told them, ‘We just lost by (31). We need to get more focused,'” Paul said. “I didn’t tell everybody but there were two or three guys in here that heard it and I think we were really in tuned this morning at shootaround.”

The Wizards then carried that attitude into the game and bounced back from the ugly loss to defeat the defending champs 101-93 at the Verizon Center No. 34 tallied 13 points, two rebounds and two assists to help Washington’s cause, but it appeared to be Washington’s star point guard, John Wall, who took Paul’s words to heart more than anyone.

Wall tallied 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting with eight assists and a pair of blocks and after the game, the All-Star point man mentioned Paul’s pep talk as a key to setting the tone for how the team came back to beat the Spurs.

“I think some people didn’t understand. What he said was perfect,” Wall said of The Truth. “It was a team (the Hawks) that came out and wanted to leave a statement, let us know they’re the best team in the East right now. We were right there with them until the fourth quarter but we didn’t do a great job of not turning the ball over, not executing and moving the ball offensively. So we watched film on that, broken it down and made our fixes to what we need to do and came out with the adjustments tonight.”

Paul came out firing and set the tone early for the Wizards, knocking down his first three shots, including two three-pointers in the first six minutes of quarter. The Truth tallied eight of his 13 points in the opening frame.

Wall followed suit with 12 points off 4-of-5 shooting in the first 12 minutes and, like Paul, went 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Washington shot 61.1 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from three to take a 31-24 lead after one.

The Wiz cooled off in the second, and the Spurs chipped four points off that lead before the break.

But Washington came back strong in the third. Truth knocked down another three in the frame, and Wall added nine points to his night, as the two squads played to a third-quarter draw.

Paul, Wall and Bradley Beal were the only Wizards in double figures until Kevin Seraphin broke out in a dominant fourth quarter. The 6-10 reserve center went off for 11 points off 5-of-7 shooting and added five rebounds.

“It was huge. We were able to go to him offensively, he got some big baskets, he got some hustle plays with the offensive rebound putbacks, but rebounding was huge for us tonight,” Paul said of Seraphin. “He was able to grab boards, and I told him the other day, ‘When the shot’s not falling and you’re not getting the ball, you’ve got to get on the rebounds, because then you’re involved in the game. You get a rhythm that way, you grab the rebounds, you’re into the game and then it carries over to the offensive end,’ and I thought that’s what happened tonight with him.”

The Wiz shot 54.5 percent to close out the Spurs in the fourth, but afterward Paul and his teammates were more proud of their defensive efforts throughout against one of the league’s best teams, one known for its ball movement and efficiency.

“It was definitely our defense that won the game,” Beal said. “Paul came in the locker room and told us it’s probably the best defense we’ve played down the stretch in a game. Everybody could attest to it. We were all on the same page, talking and communicating.”

D.C. held San Antonio below 40 percent shooting, and the Spurs’ highest scorer, Tony Parker, tallied just 14 points.

“It was a two, three-point game, we got stop after stop, and it was our defense,” Paul noted as the key to victory. “We were able to score, but we’ve got to be a defensive team that, down the stretch, we hold opponents down.”

NEXT UP

The Wizards don’t get any time to relish their bounce back victory, as they traveled to Chicago after Tuesday’s game where they’ll take on the Bulls (26-13) Wednesday for the second game in a grueling stretch of four games in five days.

It will be the third time in just 23 days that the two Eastern Conference powerhouse will square off. The previous two meetings were in Washington, where the teams split. Most recently, the Wizards defeated the Bulls 102-86 last Friday at the Verizon Center.

No. 34 put up seven points, four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block while helping the Wizards to a much-needed victory.

“It’s a big week for us,” Paul said. “It’s good for right now, but we’re about to get on a plane in the next hour and start thinking about Chicago.”

One thing the Wizards will think about is the absence of Bulls starting small forward Mike Dunleavy, who is expected to miss the game as he recovers from an ankle injury, that will mean a change in Chicago’s lineup.

When the teams last met, Bulls star guard Jimmy Butler moved to small forward in Dunleavy’s stead and the Wizards looked to Paul to slow him. The Truth did more than that as he held the up-and-coming wing player to 10 points on just 2-of-12 shooting and four turnovers. Chicago may also elect to move Tony Snell into the starting lineup, where he has played in the two games since Paul put the clamps on Butler.

Like last Friday’s meeting, Wednesday’s must see showdown between the two squads will be broadcast nationally on ESPN starting at 8 p.m. ET.

RELATED LINKS

• Pierce and Wall lead way in rare Wizards’ win against Spurs (ESPN, January 13, 2015)
• Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, January 13, 2015)
• Paul Pierce’s leadership rallies Wizards after blowout loss (The Washington Post, January 14, 2015)
• The Wizards locker room looks up to Paul Pierce (CSN Washington, January 13, 2015)
• What will Paul Pierce do after this season? (Bullets Forever, January 12, 2015)
• Wizards vs. Bulls preview (ESPN)