Truth Delivers In Game 1

After a few days of talk, excitement and tension, Paul Pierce opened the 2015 NBA playoffs by doing what he has done so many times before: delivering in the clutch to bring his team a win.

In his postseason debut as a member of the Washington Wizards on Saturday afternoon, The Truth tallied 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go with four rebounds, a steal and a block. Thanks to his outstanding performance, the Wizards pulled out a 93-86 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre to steal Game 1 of their first round playoff series.

The highly anticipated contest lived up to the hype, which was a budding flame after Paul poured some fuel on it with one of his legendary mind games. Before the series began, The Truth told Jackie MacMullan of ESPN that he felt the Raptors lacked the “it” factor that was needed in the playoffs. That prompted plenty of backlash from Toronto fans, media and even general manager Masai Ujiri.

But Paul came out on top when his Wizards pulled away in OT, then steered the conversation away from the back-and-forth with Toronto and back to his squad in his on-court interview after the game.

“I think it was just all about us, with the kind of focus we were going to bring into the game being in such a hostile environment in Game 1,” he said. “They beat us all year long during the regular season. We just stuck with the game plan, followed it and got the win.”

But for as much as he lauded his team, The Truth is that Paul was even better in practice than he was on paper Saturday. After the Raptors raced out to an early lead, No. 34 absolutely dominated the second quarter, draining all four of his shots, including a pair of threes. In total, he scored a game-high 10 points in the frame, and did it all in less than four minutes.

His outburst put Washington ahead, where they stayed for most of the afternoon, until a late Raptors rally sent the game to overtime. The Wizards finally pulled out a well-deserved win after Paul scored five points in overtime—more than any other player and more than the entire Raptors team—despite persistent boos every time he touched the ball from the opening tip to the final whistle.

Paul said after the game that he enjoys the villain role and he feeds off boos from the crowd, as many of the all-time greats have.

“You’ve just got to embrace it,” he said. “It’s not that I’m a bad guy. Everybody knows I’m a good guy, I mean off the court. That’s just the role you portray to media on the court, on the road. Everybody is booing you. No one likes you. I embrace it. It fuels me, truthfully.”

It’s not hard to believe him after seeing what he did in Game 1 to a ravenous Toronto team and crowd.

The Truth got off to a cold start and missed two shots in the first quarter, much to the delight of the fans at the Air Canada Centre. The Raps took a 23-19 lead into the second period and led by as many as seven early, but everything changed when No. 34 returned to the game midway through the second quarter.

Paul checked in at the 7:14 mark with the Wizards down seven and the teams traded baskets the next time up and down the court. But when Paul got the ball in his hands in the corner near the halfway mark of the quarter, he lit the fuse on the fireworks by sending a defender flying with a pump fake, then knocked down a side-step triple to bring Washington within four.

Just a few pays later, Paul used another pump fake to fool Tyler Hansbrough in the air, then spun past him and drained a midrange pull-up jumper from 15 feet out that brought the Wizards within two.

From there the Raptors began converging on No. 34, determined not let the man who had called them out beat them on the floor, and the rest of the Wizards benefitted by having more room to work. Wall was able to get to the basket the next time down the court to tie the game, then Paul came up big on the defensive end with a steal.

That possession ended with a miss, but moments later, the Wizards drew an offensive foul to get the ball right back. On the other end, the ball found Paul at the top of the key, and from there he drove toward the basket for another midrange pull-up — this one from about 11 feet out — to give Washington a two-point lead.

When John Wall missed a layup on the next possession, Otto Porter got the offensive rebound, brought it back out and swung it to Bradley Beal, who then found The Truth. Paul didn’t hesitate to launch a straight-on triple, which he drilled to put Washington up 43-38.

Shortly thereafter, with just over a minute remaining in the half, Wizards head coach Randy Wittman removed Paul from the game to get the 17-year veteran some extra rest before halftime.

But The Truth had already swung the game in the Wizards’ favor.

The second half got off to a rocky start, as Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas hit No. 34 with a hard screen on Toronto’s second offensive possession. Though it was a clean play, the hard contact to the neck and shoulder area shook Paul up a bit and forced a timeout.

The timing of the play could not be ignored. No. 34 took such a hard screen early in the second half after he had drained four shots in a row late in the first half to turn the tide in the first game of a heated series.

 

For that reason, The Truth glared at Valanciunas as he walked off the court. But rather than lash out and risk getting a technical foul, Paul came back after the timeout and drained a midrange pull-up to once again silence the Toronto crowd and put his team up by eight, their biggest lead of the game.

“He got screened and hit pretty hard,” Beal said of the play. “He likes contact, so I know when I see him on the ground—that is not happening often—he is going to be upset about it. I was kind of scared for Toronto because when Paul gets going, he gets going.”

Less than three minutes later, No. 34 extended that game-high lead up to nine when he knocked down his third trey of the day. This one came in transition, on the wing, and served to completely silence the raucous Toronto crowd, which Paul complimented after the game as one of the best crowds he’s ever seen.

“I’ve been in a lot of tough environments,” Paul told USA TODAY Sports after the game. “This is right up there at the top. Even last year when we won the series I didn’t want to come back to Toronto and be in this environment. It’s a tough place to play in. You’ve got to love these moments. These type of buildings that support their team. It was one of the best crowds I’ve ever been a part of on the road. It’s something that drives me. I enjoy going and getting a win on the road more than I do at home.”

That jumper concluded Paul’s scoring for a while, and his next points didn’t come until overtime, when the Wizards desperately needed a lift.

But he wasn’t out of the action when he wasn’t scoring; rather, Paul was everywhere, thriving as a power forward—a role he hasn’t played much this season—and encouraging teammates (especially star point guard Wall), giving advice, drawing defenders and orchestrating the team on both sides of the ball. With his help in all areas the Wiz pushed their lead to 11 late in the third and led by nine after three.

Washington was ahead by 15 with under eight minutes to play and seemed ready to put the game away. However, fueled by their exceptional home crowd, the Raptors managed a rally and used a 16-3 run to chip the Wizards lead all the way down to two with just under three minutes left. The teams went back and forth from there and after Greivis Vasquez tied it by knocking down a three with 25.9 seconds left and the Wiz failed to answer, Toronto nearly won the game with a tip attempt at the buzzer, but the shot fell short and sent the game to overtime.

Though No. 34 would have preferred his team close the game out with ease, the extra session simply put The Truth in position to thrive in the clutch once more. The first big moment of the 2015 postseason had arrived for No. 34 in the first playoff game, heading to a do-or-die overtime session in an arena full of hostile fans (and surrounded by even more outside) who loathe him.

It was the stage Paul Pierce was made for.

As soon as the extra frame started, Wall fired up a three that missed, but Beal was there for the board. He kicked it out to The Truth on the wing, and Paul delivered—again—this time for a milestone.

The Wizards then focused on lockdown defense and managed to hold the Raptors to just four points in the overtime period, which Paul surpassed with a pair of free throws in the final minute.

No. 34 was huge on the defensive end in extra time as well, not only stepping in to deny the 6-foot-9 Amir Johnson on a shot, but also giving a smart foul to prevent an easy basket after a Wizards turnover just seconds before the block. Those two big plays managed to eat up about 15 of the final 70 seconds or so, while the Wizards clung to a five-point lead, and the Raptors never got any points out of the possession. Washington ran out some clock, then Otto Porter converted a floater to put the Wiz up by seven, and after that, it was just a matter of putting the finishing touches on the score.

After the game, Vasquez admitted Paul got in his team’s head, and commented that he wants everybody to stop talking about The Truth.

“We give him a lot of credit, he’s got big balls, that’s the reason he’s The Truth,” Vasquez said. “What else can I tell you? Good for him. He’s a Hall of Famer. I love his game, good for him. I’ve got a picture of him. He’s an idol, that’s it. But we’ve got to play. You can stop asking questions about Paul Pierce.”

Between Vasquez’s comments after the game, and Ujiri’s comments before the game (which earned him a $35,000 fine), it became clear that Paul’s statement about the Raptors served its purpose.

“I think I can play the psychological war a little bit better than him,” Paul said of Ujiri.

NEXT UP

After taking away home-court advantage, the Wizards will look to steal Game 2 on Tuesday evening in Toronto, where the Raptors will surely come out aiming to even the series.

While No. 34 was obviously thrilled to get the win in the first game, he was very clear after the victory that the Wizards’ job is not yet done.

“We’re going to be greedy,” Paul said. “We didn’t come up here to try to get one game.”

Game 2 is scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start on Tuesday at Air Canada Centre and can be seen across the country on NBATV.

RELATED LINKS

• Pierce backs up talk, leads Wizards to Game 1 victory in Toronto (ESPN, April 18, 2015)
• Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, April 18, 2015)
• Wrinkles in gameplan help Wizards come out on top (The Washington Post, April 18, 2015)
• Pierce shows he still has “it” in Game 1 (The Washington Post, April 18, 2015)
• Greivis Vasquez says Paul Pierce has “big balls” (CBS Sports, April 19, 2015)
• The Truth thrives as a villain (USA Today, April 19, 2015)
• Raptors GM Masai Ujiri fined $35,000 for comments about Pierce (CBS Sports, April 19, 2015)
• Paul Pierce Sunday interview (Monumental Network, April 19, 2015)