Buzzer Beats The Wiz

The clock was ticking down, and John Wall was trapped, so he found his veteran outlet: Paul Pierce. The Truth stepped into the corner, and trapped by two defenders, he splashed yet another clutch buzzer-beating three to tie the game at 94 and force overtime in Game 6 between the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks.

The only problem: That clock had ticked a little too far.

The basket was counted on the court, but the officials went to the monitor, where it was revealed that Paul’s shot left his hand just a fraction of a second after the clock hit zeroes. The basket was waived off, and just like that, Washington’s season was over, as the Hawks escaped the Verizon center with a 94-91 win to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

“It’s tough,” Paul said Friday night, long after the incredible shot had been waived off. “You hate to lose that way, but you always say that these games come down to the little things, and they did the little things better than us tonight. You’ve got to just take your hat off to Atlanta, the things they were able to accomplish during the regular season, the things they were able to accomplish here in this series. I wished for more for this ballclub, I wish I could have helped carry them to another round for another experience. Unfortunately we didn’t, and I’m thankful for the way these guys competed. I love these guys, they’re my brothers, and I look forward to these guys growing. It’s a bright future here.”

The Truth finished with four points, five rebounds, a steal and a block, but Washington was done in by injuries, a lack of interior presence and a few balls bouncing the wrong way.

Wall was playing in just his second game back since fracturing five bones in his hand and wrist, and while he played tremendously (20 points, 13 assists and six rebounds), his left hand was nowhere near full strength, and that became clear with Wall’s six turnovers and 7-for-21 shooting.

Starting center Marcin Gortat was battling an illness and managed just 12 minutes of action, and meanwhile the Hawks’ starting frontcourt duo of Paul Millsap and Al Horford combined for 33 points and 20 rebounds compared to Gortat and Nene piling up just seven points and 14 rebounds.

Despite all this, the Wizards came within a tenth of a second of sending the game to overtime with all the momentum in front of a raucous home crowd.

Atlanta led for much of the game, though every time the Hawks started to pull away, the Wizards fought their way back into it. An excruciating first quarter ended with the Wizards up by one despite trailing by as many as eight in the period and shooting just 8-for-22, but the Hawks only shot 8-for-25.

The second period went much better for the Hawks—who shot 11-for-22—and slightly worse for the Wizards, who made just nine of their 26 attempts from the field. Still, Washington trailed just 45-39 at halftime despite shooting only 35.4 percent from the field.

Wall, star shooting guard Bradley Beal and reserve big man Kevin Seraphin combined for all but 11 of Washington’s points in the first half, and No. 34 was held scoreless, so the Wizards knew something had to change.

Paul began to turn things around in the third period, scoring four points, but the Wizards still couldn’t persuade their shots to start falling and hit just eight of their 21 attempts while being outscored by two in the period.

But it wasn’t all bad news for Washington at that point.

Atlanta led by double-digits for most of the third period, increasing its lead to as many as 15 around the midway point of the frame, but Washington kept fighting back. Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll was scorching hot in the period, draining four of his five shots including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 at the line, but the Wizards managed to weather the storm and whittle the deficit down to eight heading into the fourth.

“Atlanta, they won 60 games for a reason,” Paul said after the game. “They move the ball well to get their guys in a position to score, and they took advantage it.”

Paul re-entered the game for good (a few seconds at the end excluded) at the 6:58 mark with his team still down by eight. Just three minutes and eight seconds later, the Wizards took a one-point lead on a midrange jumper by Beal from the left baseline.’

The teams went back and forth for the next three minutes or so, then Atlanta went up by four with 30 seconds left after point guard Jeff Teague found Carroll underneath the basket for a layup.

The Wiz missed a pair of layups and Atlanta came away with the rebound, but excellent Washington defense forced Kyle Korver into a turnover to keep the game alive. The Wizards then missed another couple of shots at the rim, but little-used backup guard Garrett Temple managed to grab an offensive rebound and get fouled, and he knocked both free throws down to make it a two-point game.

Washington quickly fouled Horford, who missed the first free throw and made the second, giving the Wizards one final chance with 6.4 showing on the clock.

Everybody in the building, if not the country, knew the ball was going to No. 34, but Paul said that wasn’t actually the plan.

“I was just hoping we could get a three off. I wasn’t even sure if it was coming to me, because I was sort of like the third option,” he explained after the game, clearly blaming himself for the loss despite nearly bailing the team out. “But then when I got the ball, I was just trying to make sure I was behind the

[three-point line], tried to make sure I got it off in time, but unfortunately it didn’t. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I wish I could’ve done more, I wish I could have delivered for them, but unfortunately I didn’t, and we’re talking about offseason now.”

The play was a disaster from the beginning.

Beal took the inbounds pass and found Wall a few feet from the left baseline, who stood with his back to the basket for about two seconds, trying to find an option. Paul and Nene set screens at the top of the key for Beal, who curled around to the right elbow and was ready to take the three if Wall got it to him, but the much-bigger Millsap was in good position to contest the shot.

So Wall, not panicking but clearly in a hurry with just about three seconds on the clock, jumped and spun around, finding No. 34 at the left elbow. Horford, at 6-foot-10 with long arms, jumped out on Paul to contest the shot, so Paul was forced to take a dribble-step to his left to find a window to get the shot off.

Korver, who had been marking Otto Porter in the corner, leapt to his left to double-team Paul. The Truth, sensing the help coming, took another step to his left, slipping past the oncoming Korver, and launched an off-balance fall-away triple from the corner.

Nothing but nylon.

The officials called the miraculous shot a basket in real-time, but instant replay showed the ball was just barely on Paul’s fingertips when the clock struck 0.0 and the backboards lit up red.
The Truth was devastated. When the game had officially been decided, he exited the floor through the tunnel, tossing his headband and wristband to the crowd, fighting off tears.

Though it’s quite obvious Paul has nothing to be ashamed of after putting on one of the most remarkable clutch shooting exhibitions in postseason history—in his 17th NBA season, no less—he took the loss harder than anybody.

“It’s just tough,” he said, well after the game had ended. “We always say it’s a game of inches, split seconds, just so many things that come into play. We lost to a very good team tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys and the experience I was able to have this year with a lot of these guys. I told these guys I’d go to war with them any time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help us move forward, possibly advance tonight. It’s a tough one to swallow, but we’ve got a great group of guys in here.”

He later added that he knows it’s not the first time he’s come up short on a game-changing shot, but it’s never going to be easy to deal with. If Paul played another 20 years, it’s safe to say he would gladly take every last-second shot that he was offered without hesitation, no matter how many he misses.

“I’ve been in a lot of situations in my time,” he said. “A lot of times I’ve delivered, a lot of times I didn’t. But I’m always willing and ready. Today I couldn’t deliver that shot on time, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Those type of things make you stronger, especially times like this. So just gotta move on from it, it’s gonna be tough.”

Still, both the eye test and advanced statistics show that No. 34 was simply outstanding in these playoffs.

Days later, he may be able to reflect on all that he accomplished, not only in the postseason but also in the regular season with a young, inexperienced team that was in need of a reassuring veteran presence.

But in the immediate aftermath, all Paul could think about was that shot and if he could even muster the energy to give the game one more year.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to play basketball anymore,” he said after the game. “I love the game. I’ve been doing this game, playing this game like 32 years, since I was a little kid. It’s probably going to be the hardest thing I ever have to do is put the game down, but I know that time is coming one day. I’m not sure if it’s this year or next year, so I’ll sit down and talk to my family and hear things out.”

Wittman and Paul’s Wizards teammates had nothing but great things to say about what Paul did for the team, not only on the court, but everywhere in their lives.

“Obviously, Paul did a heck of a job just to put us in a position there to have a chance to tie it,” Wittman stated, to open his press conference after the game. “Guys like him that are Hall of Famers never cease to amaze you. I thought he was a real big lift for us this year, not only what he did on the floor, but his leadership and direction that he gave us in the locker room with these guys. You can’t coach that. That’s something that you either have or you don’t, and he’s got it. He gave us all he could in these two series, and we rode him. We rode him for a couple of game-winners.”

Paul finished the postseason as the Wizards’ leader in three-pointers made (33), three-point percentage (.524) and free-throw percentage (.850), and he averaged just 1.0 turnovers per game, the least among starters.

He improved in nearly every statistical category from the regular season to the postseason, including minutes, points, rebounds, turnovers, blocks and all shooting percentages (field goal, three-point and free throw).

RELATED LINKS

• Pierce’s 3 comes split-second too late to save Wizards’ season (ESPN, May 15, 2015)
• Paul Pierce postgame interview (Monumental Network, May 15, 2015)
• Wittman hopes Pierce returns to DC next year (The Washington Post, May 16, 2015)
• Will Pierce remain with Wizards? (The Washington Times, May 17, 2015)
• The Truth is unlikely to retire (ESPN, May 17, 2015)
• The 2015 playoffs were just the tip of the iceberg for Pierce (Bleacher Report, May 17, 2015)
• LeBron praises The Truth (SB Nation, May 18, 2015)