Wiz Maul Grizz

Paul Pierce put on a shooting clinic Thursday night, and his Washington Wizards have gotten back on track in a dramatic fashion.

The Wizards dominated the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies at the Verizon Center, pulling out an easy 107-87 win in front of a national television audience behind The Truth’s sparkling performance from the field.

No. 34 drained six of his seven shots from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, for 17 points while adding an assist and a steal. He played just 24 minutes in the blowout, coming out for good with 5:36 left in the third period and his team ahead 76-55.

“I’m just trying to get them in the state of mind that it’s got to be every night, to get that consistency,” The Truth said. “We can’t have nights off, we can’t play down to the level of our opponents. Right now is the point of the season where you’ve just got to really start preparing mentally and presenting good habits each and every day, in practice and in the games, and preparing for the playoffs because if you do that now, it carries over. That’s what I’m trying to preach right now, for us to develop that, and some consistency, so that we’re playing well at the right time.”

The Wizards, who improved to 37-28, were surprised to learn that Memphis head coach David Joerger would be giving star big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph the night off, as well as defensive specialist Tony Allen. Point guard Mike Conley, who was in a walking boot due to an injured ankle, also sat out the game.

Even with the several Grizzlies stars out, the Wizards actually started the game slowly, falling to an early nine-point hole in the first period before gradually climbing their way out in the second. After allowing 33 points to a group of mostly backups, including eight each to Beno Udrih and Kosta Koufos, Washington bounced back on defense to hold the Grizzlies to just 14 points in the second quarter.

Memphis then put up 24 points in the third and finished with just 16 in the final frame, thanks to a concentrated effort by the Wizards defense.

“Giving up 30 points in the first quarter—especially when they don’t have their two bigs, leading scorers, All-Star guys in—it was embarrassing to us,” Paul said. “We really picked it up, settled into our defensive ways and never looked back.”

Though the defense was instrumental to the turnaround for Washington, The Truth played a major role himself.

Paul started the game knocking down a couple of slick jumpers for his team’s first four points, and at that point, he knew he was feeling it and came out firing in the second. He drained four of his five shots in the quarter and went 3-for-4 from distance, putting up a quarter-high 11 points in less than nine minutes of action and almost matching the 14 that the whole Grizzlies team scored all quarter.

No. 34 entered the game at the power forward position at the 8:36 mark of the second quarter and his team down 39-33. That was when the whole game changed.

The Wizards went on a 5-2 run upon the future Hall of Famer’s re-entry into the game, then Paul drained a triple in transition to tie the game at 41.

A few possessions later, Paul caught the ball at the top of the key, faked the three to get his defender in the air, drove past him to the basket and converted the layup.

Less than two minutes later, The Truth put in another three-ball.

Not even a minute after that, he swiped a pass by Udrih and found Wall for a sweet transition layup. Paul was so hot that he pulled up a few feet behind the three-point line the next time he had the ball, and without hesitation drained a 28-footer.

The Wizards outscored the Grizzlies 27-8 from the moment No. 34 entered the game until halftime, and they never looked back. Memphis briefly got within nine early in the second half, but Washington quickly pulled away and led comfortably the rest of the way.

After a midseason slump, a win over one of the Western Conference’s top teams was an affirming moment for Paul and Co., and it helped them to regain some ground in the Eastern Conference standings. They now sit just 1.5 games off the No. 4 spot.

But as No. 34 explained afterward, the habits the Wiz are building along the way will prove far more important than their seeding come playoff time.

“Right now it’s just about continuing to work on our good habits defensively, and offensively moving the ball,” The Truth said. “No matter who we play and no matter who they put out there, we’ve just got to continue to work on good habits and prepare for the playoffs.”

NEXT UP

Washington hosts the 22-41 Sacramento Kings on Saturday evening. The Kings most recently beat the Charlotte Hornets, but before that had lost four in a row and six of their last seven.
It will be the first of two meetings between the Wizards and Kings this season, with the second coming just eight days later in Sacramento.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET tip and will be shown locally on Comcast Sports Net.

RELATED LINKS

• Wizards blow out Grizzlies in D.C. (ESPN, March 12, 2015)
• Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, March 12, 2015)
• Wizards go bowling at White House, Pierce takes home title (Monumental Network, March 11, 2015)
• Pierce reacts hilariously to teammate’s blown dunk (SB Nation, March 12, 2015)