Last season, when Paul Pierce knocked down a dagger late in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the Brooklyn Nets against the Toronto Raptors, The Truth loudly proclaimed “That’s why they got me here!”

Just two games into his tenure with the Washington Wizards, Paul had his first “That’s why they got me here!” moment on Thursday night in Orlando.

Washington Wizards v Orlando Magic

In the waning moments of his new team’s road meeting with the Magic, the home team put together a flurry to draw within one possession of the Wizards, who had seemingly put the game away when they extended their lad to 11 points just over two minutes earlier.  But Orlando’s quick comeback was stifled by The Truth, who came through in the clutch and knocked down back-to-back jumpers to keep the Magic at bay and help deliver a 105-98 win for D.C.

“It brought back memories,” guard Garrett Temple said of Pierce’s takeover. “I was just thinking about what he used to do with the Celtics. That’s why we brought him in. That’s why he’s here, to settle us down, get us in a good spot and we trust him in those situations and I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Those two baskets represented four of The Truth’s 16 points — to go along with four rebounds, one assist and two steals — and helped to clinch the first victory of the season for his new squad.

It was Washington’s first taste of the late-game magic Paul has made a career out of afterward, reporters wanted to know how No. 34 was able to turn back the clock late in that game, but the grinning 37-year-old noted that his clock is still ticking forward.

“Turn back the clock to when? I never went nowhere,” Paul said with a smile. “I’ve still been here. I was doing that last year, the year before, the year before that.”

Washington Wizards v Orlando Magic

As boisterous as the end of the game was for No. 34, it began quietly and for the majority of the night, No. 34 was simply content picking his spots. In fact, before he hit the first of those two late game jump shots with 2:21 left in the game, Paul had taken just nine shots all night. He ended up 6-of-13 from the field and played just 30 minutes — the fewest among Washington starters — but he made his mark in other ways.

In the first quarter, he logged seven minutes and made his mark on the defensive end, with a steal and a rebound while helping to keep Orlando’s wings in check. With his help, the Wizards limited the Magic to just 23 points in the first quarter despite the fact that Orlando shot 62 percent from the field in the first. Washington was aided in the frame by eight Magic turnovers and after one, the Wizards held a 28-23 advantage.

After checking back into the game four minutes into the second quarter with his team still up four points, The Truth continued to work to facilitate for his teammates and after attempting just one shot in the first, he took just one more in the first several minutes of the second. After the game, No. 34 revealed why he was a bit slower to shoot early in the game.

Paul noted that he sees himself as the veteran chemist of the Wizards squad, and he is aiming to keep the team rolling as it comes together early in the year. On this night, the Wiz welcomed back Nene Hilario (suspension) and Glen Rice Jr. (injury).

“I just try to keep everybody focused,” he said. “I understand when you’re coming off a loss in a back-to-back situation, that’s what it’s going to take. That’s what I’m going to give them all year long. We’re going to try to take that next step from what the Wizards did a year ago, and it’s gotta be every night. It’s gotta be consistency in practice and in the game.”

That leadership role Paul has taken requires him to do many things on the court, but once the Magic managed to cut Washington’s lead down from seven to nothing in the late stages of the second quarter, The Truth started looking for his shot and found it to knock down a pair of shots late in the second. The first came with the score tied with 4:05 remaining in the half, to give the Wizards a brief two-point lead.

Orlando followed with treys from Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier to pull ahead by four, but Paul answered with a trifecta off a feed from Washington’s star point guard, John Wall to cut the deficit to just one.

While No. 34 had a quiet beginning, Wall and center Marcin Gortat were red hot. The two ended up taking the bulk of the scoring on the night, with Wall netting 30 points, 12 assists and five boards and Gortat adding 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington Wizards v Orlando Magic

Wall’s helper to Paul was part of a surge when the duo either scored or assisted on every point of a 13-7 run to end the half, giving D.C. a 54-51 lead.

After the break it was more Paul, Wall and Gortat. That trio either scored or assisted on every single point in the third quarter. Meanwhile, they locked down defensively as well, breaking away with a 28-15 advantage in the third. Paul had nothing but compliments for Wall and Gortat after the game, and lauded how they’ve stepped up with shooting guard Bradley Beal, the second half of the acclaimed Wizards’ backcourt duo, out with a fractured left wrist.

“(John Wall) is an All-Star, he’s our best player,” The Truth said. “We need him to take lead and control the game like he did down the stretch. He made either the right pass or the scoring play, and that’s what we’re going to need from him, that’s what we’re going to need from Bradley when he comes back. Gortat too. It has to come from a number of guys”

All five D.C. starters were in double figures, including Temple, who is starting in place of Beal, and the starters combined for 90 of the team’s 105 points. Wittman described his team as “an equal-opportunity offense” after the win, saying the team has so many weapons on offense that it can just roll with what’s working.

“We don’t predetermine who’s going to score,” he said. “We take advantage of what the defense gives us.”

But despite the enormous outburst from the Wizards in the third frame, the home team refused to go away quietly.

The Magic took their 16-point deficit at the end of three quarters and cut it all the way down to three inside the final minutes.

An inability to execute late in games has plagued the Wizards for several years. That’s why Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld went out this offseason and signed a player in Paul with a clutch track record for.

No. 34 knows full well that he did not go to the nation’s capital to lead the team in shots or minutes. The decorated small forward went to D.C. for those crunch time moments he craves.

When one arrived on Thursday, everybody knew it was Paul’s time and The Truth showed up to close the game out.

First, after a three-pointer from Fournier had cut the Washington lead to just three, Paul backed down Orlando’s Ben Gordon from the elbow, then turned and spun toward the baseline, where he stopped and popped a 14-footer to make it 98-93 Wizards with 2:22 to go.

Fournier drew a foul on the next Magic possession and went to the free throw line to cut Washington’s lead down to three once again, but back came Paul again for the post-up on Gordon, from which he used a similar move to get off another baseline jumper that connected to make put the Wizards at the century mark, ahead 100-95, with under two minutes to go.

From there, the Wiz were able to close out the game despite committing a three-shot foul on Gordon with under a minute to play that cut their lead all the way to two. Wall answered with a layup, then iced the game at the free throw line to secure Washington’s first victory of the season.

In addition to his hot shooting, Wall — who had six turnovers in the season opener against Miami — was much more careful against Orlando, turning it over just twice while also dishing out 12 assists.

“As we continue to build our chemistry we have to find ways to win,” Paul said. “We’re gonna have chemistry issues at times because we’re still getting to know each other, but these types of games, we have to grind it out.”

The Wizards are ecstatic that they now have a player who will put the team on his back when the game is on the line, as No. 34 did on Thursday, but Paul is just as happy to be in Washington.

NEXT UP

Paul was encouraged by the way the Wizards played in their second game, but knows they have some work to do to continue to improve.

“It was a lot better, but we still have a ways to go,” Paul said. “We’re happy with the win but there’s a lot of things we have to look at.”

With their two-day tour of Florida complete, Paul and the Wizards traveled back to D.C. on Thursday night, and they’ll host their home opener on Saturday, against 2014 No. 2 overall draft pick Jabari Parker and the promising Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks (0-1) lost an overtime nail-biter to the Hornets on Wednesday in Charlotte and will be heading to D.C. as the second half of a back-to-back after hosting the Philadelphia 76ers in Milwaukee on Friday night.

Tip-off of Saturday’s game is slated for 7 p.m. ET and it can be seen on Comcast Sports Net.

RELATED LINKS