Wednesday night marked the return of Paul Pierce to the Washington Wizards, a night off for John Wall and Nene, the second Wizards win over the Philadelphia 76ers in a matter of days and the fourth straight win for Washington.
Paul put up 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go along with a trio of assists and rebounds while also adding a steal as the Wizards cruised to a 119-90 win in Philadelphia and improved to 45-33.
The Truth had missed the three previous games for Washington, mostly for the sake of getting some extra rest heading into the playoffs, but he suited up Wednesday as Wizards head coach Randy Wittman rested Wall and Nene.
“At this time of year, you don’t always have the luxury of doing that,” Wittman said of resting his stars recently. “Five days of doing nothing, at this time, for your body, can mean wonders. I thought Paul came out and had that juice in his step again. We had the luxury of three days off to come into this game and give John
[Wall] a night off with giving him two more days.”The Wizards hadn’t played since a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, which resulted in a pair of wins, and they have another day off before taking on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
The extra rest is crucial for the fifth-place Wizards, who trail the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls by just one game apiece for the third spot in the Eastern Conference. If Washington wins its final four games, there is a good possibility that it can clinch home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs, and maybe even the second if a few dominoes fall into place.
As for Wednesday night, however, the Wizards dominated early and throughout. Paul hit an early layup as part of a game-opening 11-3 run by the Wiz, off one of his trademark pump fakes at the top of the key, and he added a triple late in the second period to help keep the Sixers at bay when they started making a run.
Washington carried a 16-point lead into halftime, then it went cold in the third. Philadelphia drained a few buckets in a row to spur a 12-2 run, but the Wizards answered with a trio of long-balls, the final one drained by No 34, to ramp the lead back up to 20.
Paul looked particularly spry throughout this game, perhaps in part due to the additional rest leading up to the game, and he pulled off a few nice drives to the basket over the course of the game.
The Truth added a long two a few moments later to keep some distance between the teams, then he came out for the remainder of the contest with Washington well ahead. Before the Wizards ran away with the game for good, No. 34 was highly emotional and energized. In huddles during timeouts, he was constantly encouraging his teammates and working to keep the team’s energy level up, and despite his 37 years, he was one of the most active players on the floor all night. He even got up close and personal with a lucky cameraman at one point, showing he still knows how to enjoy the game even when his intensity level is high.
NEXT UP
The Wizards have just four games remaining in the regular season, with the next game coming on the road against the Brooklyn Nets.
It will be the last chance this season that Paul will see the team he played one season with, though a fair bit has changed with that roster since The Truth left last year. Most notably, former Defensive Player of the Year and one of Paul’s good friends, Kevin Garnett, is back playing with the Minnesota Timberwolves again.
The Wizards won two of the first three meetings between the teams this season, with the only Nets win coming in the first game. Most recently, the Wizards destroyed Brooklyn at the Verizon Center, running away with a 114-77 victory in early February.
The Nets fell Wednesday night in close contest with the top seeded Atlanta Hawks, dropping them to a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Celtics—a result that will leave them desperate for a victory when Paul and Co. come to town.
This matchup will be shown locally on Comcast Sports Net and will start at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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