After watching two big leads evaporate and result in excruciating losses, Paul Pierce and the Washington Wizards almost let the 18-25 Denver Nuggets hand them their third loss in a row on Sunday night.
But instead, hot shooting, some veteran savvy and a little bit of luck were the difference for the Wizards, who snapped their brief losing streak and walked out of the Mile High City with a thrilling 117-115 victory.
“We’ve got to do a better job of closing the games,” he said Sunday night. “We get leads, they evaporate, we got a lead in overtime
[against Denver], it evaporates. So it’s a learning curve that we’re still going through, but we’ve got to do a better job, especially when we get leads on the road.”
The Truth had a strong showing against the Blazers on Saturday, putting up 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting while adding six rebounds and two assists, but the Wizards came up short in Portland. After leading by 14 in the first half, Washington fell 103-96, thanks in part to impeccable free throw shooting by the Blazers (20-for-20) and a poor third quarter by the Wizards (6-for-18 shooting for just 15 points).
“The ball was swinging side-to-side in the first half, which enabled us to build up a lead and score as many points as we did,” Paul said of his team’s collapse in Portland. “In the third quarter we didn’t move the ball as well, and we didn’t get stops. Then we opened up their three-point game, the crowd got into the game and we then we found ourselves battling back uphill.”
The following night, another 19 points from Paul helped propel the Wiz to a win in overtime against the Nuggets, and Washington was able to hold off the Toronto Raptors for second place in the East by improving to 30-15. No. 34 added three rebounds, three assists and a block on Sunday, but a miscommunication between him, John Wall and Rasual Butler gave Denver’s Ty Lawson a chance to send the game to a second overtime.
“I just tried to get it in quick, he stole the pass, and that’s it, he missed the shot,” Paul said of the conclusive play against Denver. “Thank you, Ty Lawson.”
That final pass could have ruined what was an otherwise phenomenal weekend for The Truth, who is playing some of his best ball of the season. In his past three games, Paul is averaging 17.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and has shot 50 percent from the field. Despite No. 34 racking up 100 minutes of playing time in those three games, the pass that Lawson stole was just Paul’s second turnover in that stretch.
The Wizards are also averaging more than 105 points per game during his hot streak, well above their 99.9 per game for the season.
Still, Washington has lost in two of those three games, both times giving up double-digit leads and losing in the final moments. After the loss in Portland, Paul talked about why the Wiz continue to struggle in the same situation.
“It’s just consistency. Little things,” he said. “We just have to continue to work, look at the little things, remember why we got the lead and continue to do those things. It takes consistency in this league to win, and everything you do becomes habit. We’re learning. We have our ups and downs, but we just have to learn to be more consistent.”
Without some early dominance by The Truth, it would’ve been tough for the Wizards to get those leads the past few games.
Against the Blazers, No. 34 opened the game with a decisive three-ball, which made it the 24th game in a row that he had knocked down at least one, setting a new career high.
He then got nothing but net on his next shot, a midrange jumper that pushed Washington up 5-2. Just like that, the Wizards were on their way to a 13-2 lead. Following Paul’s lead, Wall, Nene and Bradley Beal all hit jump shots to key a big 32-20 first quarter for the Wizards. Just for good measure, The Truth hit another deep two later in the quarter, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.
With No. 34 on the bench to start the second quarter, the Blazers cut the lead to seven, but Paul stretched it back to 10 with a three-pointer to end the half. He then had to put the offense on his back in the third quarter, as the Wizards simply couldn’t hit a shot. Paul made three of his five shots in the period and scored nine points, despite some tough defense by Wesley Matthews, while the rest of the team went just 3-for-13 for six points.
Not only did he keep his team afloat, he also reached yet another incredible milestone in the third quarter. With a spot-up triple from the wing, The Truth became just the fourth player to make 2,000 three-pointers in a career.
A strange fourth quarter that saw 16 fouls called, including three by Nene in just nine seconds, and 15 free throws by the Blazers ended the Wizards’ hopes for a road victory.
After the disappointing defeat, it was off to Denver, where things went only slightly more smoothly.
It was another unusual game for the Wizards, who shot 53.3 percent from the field compared to the Nuggets’ 40.6 percent and yet still managed to win by just two in overtime. After the entire team got to the line just 14 times against Portland, Paul attacked the hoop all game and got to the line 14 times himself against Denver.
However, his physicality earned him an elbow to the eye—an accidental shot from Nene in the first quarter—which he had to get cleaned up in the locker room.
The injury only slowed him down for a few minutes, however, and soon The Truth was back to his old ways. He made both of his shots in the second quarter, including a three to improve his streak to 26 games in a row, and then came out firing in the third.
With the game tied at the break, Paul did a bit of everything to open the second half. Not only did he score nine of the 15 points Washington put up when he was on the floor, he also assisted on four of the six he didn’t score. He got to the line on three separate occasions, making five of his six attempts, and he hit a few impressive turnaround jumpers to remind everybody that he’s still got moves and elite footwork.
He also found Nene for a slick pass down low, showing that he doesn’t hold grudges very long.
Paul later had a shot to win the game at the buzzer, but Nuggets star Kenneth Faried showed why he’s called The Manimal with an incredible defensive play that sent the game to overtime.
With Beal fouled out and the Denver crowd back in the game, things didn’t look good for the Wizards. But the Wizards managed to make a few big shots and lock down defensively to eke out the much-needed victory.
NEXT UP
The Wizards head to Staples Center to take on the team Paul grew up rooting for, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Paul was born and raised in Oakland, CA, then spent time living in Inglewood, and he dreamed of playing for the Purple and Gold when he was a child. After being drafted by and playing 15 years for their top rival, the Boston Celtics, the Lakers don’t exactly have Paul’s heart anymore, but the city still appreciates its own.
The Truth usually plays well in his former stomping grounds; in his 15 career games against the Lakers in L.A., Paul has averaged 25.2 points on 48 percent shooting.
His team has also emerged victorious in three of the last five games Paul has played against the Lakers at Staples Center, with the most recent being a 108-102 win when he was with the Brooklyn Nets last year.
The game will be played at 10:30 ET and will be shown locally on Comcast Sports Net.
RELATED LINKS
- Wizards fall to Blazers in Portland (ESPN, January 24, 2015)
- Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, January 24, 2015)
- Wizards escape Denver with win in overtime (ESPN, January 25, 2015)
- Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, January 25, 2015)
- Paul Pierce helping Wizards find their voice (The Washington Post, January 23, 2015)
- Wizards still seeking to reunite Pierce and Allen (Bullets Forever, January 23, 2015)
- Pierce congratulating Wall for making All-Star team
- Pierce his 2,000th career three-pointer (Pro Basketball Talk, January 25, 2015)
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