For the eighth straight season, The Truth will be heard in the playoffs.
While sitting idle Monday night, the Washington Wizards clinched a berth in the playoffs, which means another playoff appearance for Paul Pierce, one of the league’s foremost postseason veterans.
And No. 34 got some help from his friends to get there. As the Wizards rested through the first day of a rare late-season string of back-to-back off days on Monday, Paul’s former team, the Boston Celtics, topped the Charlotte Hornets 116-104, to put the D.C. squad eight games up on eighth place in the Eastern Conference with eight games to go, cinching Washington’s spot in the postseason.
These playoffs will mark the 12th time in his 17-year career Paul has gone to the postseason, including the eighth consecutive season. That current string dates back to the 2007-08 NBA championship run with the Celtics, and includes six of his 10 total playoff appearances with Boston as well an appearance last season with the Brooklyn Nets.
All told, Paul has played in 148 playoff games and started every one, averaging an incredible 39 minutes per game. The Truth has always spoken loudly in the playoffs with career postseason averages of 20.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
While Paul is no stranger to the playoffs, the Wiz are still trying to build that type of consistency. Last year, they made their first postseason appearance since 2008.
This year’s D.C. squad has hit a late-season slump, and for that reason, the veteran Pierce knows that despite clinching a berth they’ll still need to use their final eight contests of the season to build some momentum and confidence for the road ahead. And that, Paul says, starts on the defensive end.
“We’re a defensive team first,” The Truth said on a recent appearance on Mike & Mike. “We just gotta get our consistency back on that end of the court. When you get that defensive consistency, it builds trust in one another, so I think we’re up and down at times throughout the course of this second half of the season. I don’t know if that has something to do with being injured or just being young, but we have to develop that consistency on defense, because you can’t just turn it on when the playoffs come. You have to get a certain flow, get a certain confidence when you get into the playoffs because it’s an emotional roller-coaster once you get there and one game could be the difference in the playoffs.”
After a double overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets to start the weekend, the Wizards hoped the two-game stretch would bring a playoff-clinching victory over the Houston Rockets, but they ultimately fell 99-91. The Truth’s playing time was limited in that game, as he is dealing with some minor injuries, as well as a shooting slump.
But afterward, No. 34 made no excuses, saying that both he and his team must be better to get where they want to go in the postseason.
“Everybody’s dealing with little minor injuries, and I’m dealing with
[them],” Paul said. “It’s no excuse. I’ve got to play better for us to have a chance. We play well, we hold the Houston Rockets under 100 points, but offensively I’ve definitely got to shoot the ball better and play better for us to have a chance.”
The way the East sits at the moment, it is likely the Wiz will end up with the No. 5 seed. They’re currently in fifth place and five games ahead of the sixth place Milwaukee Bucks, a team that has also hit a late-season rough patch.
The Toronto Raptors are a likely first-round opponent for Paul and Co. The Raptors currently hold the fourth slot, three games ahead of the Wizards. The Bulls are another possibility, as they sit in third, just one game head of the Raptors.
If Toronto is the opponent, The Truth could be Public Enemy No. 1 when the Wiz head up north. Last season while a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Paul crushed the hearts of the Canadian fans when he came through with a last-second block on Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference first round. That stuff propelled Paul’s Nets to the second round and ended the season of the young Toronto squad.
RELATED LINKS
- Wizards officially clinch playoff berth, but something is missing (CSN Washington, March 30, 2015)
- The Wizards are back in the playoffs (Bullets Forever, March 30, 2015)
- Pierce is slumping but hopes to shake it off when playoffs begin (Washington Post, March 30, 2015)
- Wizards clinch second straight playoff berth (Washington Post, March 30, 2015)
- Pierce says Wizards can’t just turn it on when playoffs come (Washington Post, March 26, 2015)
Wow! Paul is a seasoned baller & as we all know, “experience tops youth every time.” 17 years says it all! That is why we are the WIZZARDS! BEST one minute finish of the playoffs so far. Take it to the finish line Paul. I’m excited!