Truth Gives Wiz A Scare

With less than 10 seconds remaining in the first half of the Washington Wizards’ 96-86 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, a hush fell over the Verizon Center.

A moment prior, Charlotte guard Kemba Walker had crashed into Paul Pierce, who was setting a screen for John Wall. Their right knees collided, and Paul’s knee appeared to bend slightly backward; the fear was that he had hyperextended it.

Wall also took a hard hit on the play, further adding to the fans’ terror.

A few dreadfully long minutes later, No. 34 rose to his feet and walked off the court under his own power.

Halftime came and went with the Verizon Center in a noticeable funk.

The crowd was distinctly less jubilant than it was just a few minutes earlier, wondering how the Wizards could handle an injury to their star free-agent signee, especially when the team has already been so ravaged by injury.

As the fans settled into their seats, ready to see a lineup come out for the third quarter missing yet another key name, out came The Truth, a sight for sore eyes if there ever was one.

Paul returned to light it up in the third quarter, keeping the Wizards in the game almost singlehandedly. He scored four points in the period, while picking up four rebounds, two steals and an assist.

In a stretch of just 52 seconds toward the end of the quarter, No. 34 was everywhere. With 4:08 remaining, he scored on a layup. The next time down the court, he found Wall on a 20-foot pull-up jumper. Just 11 seconds later, Paul stole a Gary Neal pass and drove down the court, drew the foul and knocked down both free throws to tie the game.

He was subbed out of the game at the next dead ball with the score tied 63-63 and immediately went to the locker room for the rest of the evening.

After the game, Wall said No. 34 took himself out of the game for precautionary reasons.

“He was alright but you could tell he was kind of favoring it a little bit in the third quarter, so he took himself out,” the Wizards’ star guard said. “Smart play.”

But the Truth was done for the game, and it would turn out that the Wizards were as well.

Charlotte outscored Washington 30-18 in the fourth quarter sending Washington to the 96-86 loss, which dropped the Wizards to 4-2 for the preseason.

For the game, Paul had his typical all-around performance. The veteran put up 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes.

He also made all three of his attempts from the charity stripe, where he is 13-of-15 so far this preseason.

Ryan Gracia of Wizards blog Bullets Forever saw No. 34’s contributions as a bright spot in the loss:

Paul Pierce looked good offensively. It’s still only preseason and there were some uncertainty in movements, knowing when a pass was headed his way coming off of screens, etc. but overall, with the ball in his hand, Pierce showed nicely, reminding me of the Pierce we should expect to see come the regular season.

During one of his best games of the preseason, The Truth also taught a lesson to his young Charlotte counterpart, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist:

And after the game, Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman quickly dismissed any speculation about Paul being more seriously injured.

“Oh he’s fine,” he said. “They turned and banged knees, but he’s fine.”

NEXT UP

The Wizards are back in action on Monday night to take on the New Orleans Pelicans at Baltimore Arena in the annual Baltimore Basketball Classic.

Tip-off of the game is slated for 7 p.m. ET and it can be seen on CSN or heard on WNEW 99.1 FM or WFED 1500 AM.

Paul is not expected to play in Monday’s penultimate preseason game after missing practice Sunday.

Washington wraps up the preseason with a visit to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks on Wednesday.

If Paul is active Wednesday, he could be matched up against Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, a player The Truth is very familiar with having played against him in the Eastern Conference for years.

Tip-off of Washington’s preseason finale is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen locally to New York on MSG or on NBA League Pass, or heard once again on WNEW 99.1 FM or WFED 1500 AM.

RELATED LINKS

• Paul Pierce provides another Wizards injury scare (Washington Post, October 17, 2014)
• Pierce leaves games after banging knees (Washington Times, October 17, 2014)
• Hornets cruise past Wizards on strength of 23-1 run (Washington Times, October 17, 2014)
• Hornets remain troublesome matchup for Wizards (CSN Washington, October 17, 2014)
• Pierce gives Wizards an injury scare (CSN Washington, October 17, 2014)
• John Wall Postgame, 10/17/14 (Monumental Network, October 17, 2014)
• Randy Wittman Postgame Presser, 10/17/14 (Monumental Network, October 17, 2014)
• Wizards 86, Hornets 86 (Washington Wizards Blog, October 17, 2014)
• Good and Bad in loss to the Hornets (Daily Wizdom, October 17, 2014)
• Paul Pierce eventually leaves Hornets-Wizards game after knee injury scare (Bullets Forever, October 17, 2014)
• Three things we learned after Washington’s 96-86 loss (Bullets Forever, October 17, 2014)
• Wizards experiment in loss to Charlotte Hornets (Bullets Forever, October 18, 2014)
• Wizards getting themselves healthy for season opener (Bullets Forever, October 19, 2014)
• Wizards Get Bugged — By Injury and Hornets (Truth About It, October 17, 2014)
• Hornets beat Wizards, Paul Pierce Tweaks Knee (Wiz of Awes, October 17, 2014)
• Injury updates: Pierce, Rice Jr. Humphries all progressing (Wiz of Awes, October 19, 2014)