At halftime of the Monday night tilt between the Washington Wizards and the Miami Heat, Paul Pierce, with his team already leading by 15 points, saw a perfect opportunity to catch a little extra rest ahead of a pivotal four-game week.

So the Truth gave a message to his young teammates: Let’s put this game away.

“Well, Paul had a joke at halftime,” said point guard John Wall. “He said: ‘Let me get a rest. Let’s get it to like 25, so I can take a break.’”

Miami Heat v Washington Wizards

During the second half, the Wizards did exactly as Paul had hoped, clamping down on Miami defensively to close out a comfortable 107-86 win.

After an easy night, where he spent just under 20 minutes on the floor and turned in four points, one rebound and one assist, The Truth noted how the team’s defensive intensity allowed them to finish the game without worry.

“We were up 15 at the half, but the guys were very upset because we knew they missed free throws and had turnovers,” Paul said after resting for the final 15 minutes of the victory. “We wanted to make an effort to do a better job on defense. We wanted to bring their field goal percentage down and keep them under 100, and we did both.”

Miami Heat v Washington Wizards

The Truth played just eight minutes in the second half, and the entire starting five watched from the bench through the fourth quarter. The Washington reserves were huge on the night. Rasual Butler led the way with a game-high 23 points off the bench, pacing a second unit that combined for 54 points.

The Wiz held the Heat to just 32.4 percent shooting in the final two quarters, including an 0-of-13 mark from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Washington starters were fired up watching the reserves dominate down the stretch, particularly in a 26-20 final frame.

“It’s fun,” Paul said about watching the bench players close out the game. “When everybody’s cheering for one another on the bench, nobody cares who gets the credit. That’s a real team right there, and that’s what you’re seeing over here with the Washington Wizards. The guys who don’t play a lot of minutes, standing up, pumping their fists, high-fiving when guys come out, those are chemistry-builders right there. Everybody’s in for one another, because all you care about is getting the W.”

While No. 34 was able to watch his team close out the win in the end, he was right there to give it a jump-start at the beginning.

As he has done many times already this season, he knocked down Washington’s first bucket of the game: a 14-footer to make it 2-0. Paul also hit a pair of free throws shortly thereafter, and the Wiz hit six of their first eight shots to jump out to an early five-point lead. But it was a trio of trifectas from Butler, Wall and Otto Porter in the final two minutes and change of the first that stretched the lead to eight, 30-22, after one.

D.C. then opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back. The lead hovered around 12 for much of the game, soaring as high as 25. The Heat were never within striking distance after that early second-quarter spurt. They managed to tie the game on just four occasions — all in the first quarter — and they never held a lead.

Miami Heat v Washington Wizards

Much of Washington’s early success came due to hot shooting from beyond the arc; the Wizards made 10-of-19 from three-point range, including all seven of their first-half attempts. This was partly due to simply having the hot hand, but it was also a matter of offensive spacing, which was part of Washington’s game plan to defeat the Heat.

Paul played a big part in spreading the floor and attracting the attention of Miami’s top perimeter defender, forward Loul Deng. The Truth often lured Deng to the corners, allowing Wall to orchestrate plays and move freely through the interior.

“We just moved the ball,” Paul said. “When we make the extra passes, we’re at our best. When we defend, we’re at our best.”

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Washington shot 54.2 percent from the floor, as Marcin Gortat turned in a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. Wall was the only starter to play over 30 minutes, and he too had an excellent game, recording 18 points and 13 assists.

As Head Coach Randy Wittman said after the game, No. 34 and the rest of the starters got the Wizards on the right track, then the bench came in and didn’t let off the gas. He called the victory “probably our best game from start to finish” and stressed how important the game was for growing the team’s chemistry.

The squad was also able to build on Saturday night’s home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans to start a four-game homestand. The Truth agreed with his coach, saying the team couldn’t be off to a better start in this crucial stretch in the Capitol.

“First quarter to fourth quarter, we were really into them and what we needed to do,” Paul said. ‘We got a nice home stretch here, a chance to extend our lead in the division against a division team, and we showed a sense of urgency tonight.”

NEXT UP

Paul and the Wizards (11-5) continue their homestand with a visit from the Los Angeles Lakers (4-13) on Wednesday evening.

Perhaps the most anticipated storyline of that game will be the matchup of Paul and Kobe Bryant, two surefire Hall of Famers who have a combined 2,455 regular season games under their belts.

Despite holding the worst record in the Western Conference, the Lakers come to town with a bit of momentum after an impressive overtime victory over the East-leading Toronto Raptors on Sunday. Bryant recorded his first triple-double of the season in the victory over a Toronto team that beat the Wizards handily earlier this season, so a confident LA team could present a challenge to Washington’s win streak on Wednesday night.

Tip-off from the Verizon Center is slated for 7 p.m. EST and the game will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sports Net.

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