It’s no wonder why John Wall was relieved to welcome Paul Pierce over to his side.

The Washington Wizards point guard has seen a good bit of The Truth on the opposite end of the floor in his four years in the Eastern Conference—but it might have been meeting No. 5 between the two that left the biggest impression.

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

On Jan. 22, 2012 it was a Chinese New Year celebration at the Verizon Center—located in D.C.’s Chinatown. But as the Year of the Dragon began, it was the Boston Celtics who were celebrating a 100-94 win after Paul torched the home team for 34 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals. After the outburst from The Truth, Wall was left dumbfounded.

“He’s a great player for a reason,” Wall said. “With a player like that, it’s tough to double-team him because he does a good job of picking you apart. That’s what he did.”

After seeing what Pierce is capable of, J-Wall was one of the first Wizards to welcome the team’s new addition.

“It’s big to have Paul Pierce, The Truth, here,” Wall said in July. “He’s proven that he’s won in this league. He’s a clutch player, he’s won an NBA championship. I’ll just try to pick his brain as much as I can and learn from a veteran that did everything I’m trying to do in this league.”

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

Wall had a great performance himself that afternoon against Paul, pacing his squad with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He tallied four points, three dimes and three boards in the first and drove in for a late bucket to give the Wizards a 21-20 advantage going into the second.

Paul kept up with four points, two dimes and three boards in that frame, but it was the second quarter where Boston—and No. 34—did the most damage.

Paul sparked a fantastic second frame with a triple from the right wing off a dish from Ray Allen and right in the eye of Wall. Allen left the game with an ankle injury just moments later, but praised Paul for carrying the Celts, who were also playing without point guard Rajon Rondo, the rest of the way.

“Paul carried us,” Allen said. “He played great for us. The team, everybody rallied behind him.”

Another long trifecta came off the hand of Pierce soon after, when he corralled a monstrous block from JaVale McGee. He had 14 points in that second frame, along with three rebounds. He dished out two assists as well, including one on the final basket of the quarter—a corner three from Mickael Pietrus that gave Boston a 49-40 lead at the break.

After halftime, Wall came out and led a Wizards rally, as he scored six points, brought down a pair of rebounds and sent out three dimes—including assists that resulted in threes from Nick Young and Jordan Crawford. Those triples cut the Boston lead, which reached 15 points early in the quarter, down to just four going into the fourth.

Early in that final frame, Wall found Trevor Booker on a fast-break alley-oop that tied the game at 75, but it was that score that put the game into The Truth territory.

Paul re-entered the contest immediately after the game-tying hoop and scored Boston’s next 10 points.

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

Washington held tough and remained behind by just one point after Paul’s surge. But after contributions from Brandon Bass and Jermaine O’Neal, No. 34 delivered one of the game’s crushing blows.

With just over three minutes to go, The Truth sucked in Crawford near the right elbow before spinning and slicing through the Washington defense, straight through the lane for an easy bucket that put Boston ahead by seven. From then on, the Celtics kept their lead at three or more points.

All five D.C. defenders had their eyes on Paul on that final key play, but none could stop him. Afterward, Wall and then-Wizards head coach Flip Saunders went back-and-forth about how they could’ve stopped No. 34. But on that day, there was little they could have done to thwart The Truth.

“At the end of the day, your big players have to step up and play well for you to win, especially games when you have guys out,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “And Paul did everything.”

Next season, as Wall and Wizards fans are glad to note, Pierce will be doing the same in Red, White and Blue.

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