As it turned out, Paul Pierce’s second act against his former team was even more mesmerizing than the first.

A night after the Boston Celtics blew a 25-point lead at home to the Washington Wizards but still managed to eke out the victory on Sunday afternoon, the Wizards let go of a 23-point lead in their own home arena on Monday night, but still pulled out an incredible 133-132 win in double overtime.

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

The Truth had a huge night for the Wiz, going 9-of-12 shooting for a season-high 28 points with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and just one turnover in a season-high 39 minutes, including all but three seconds of the two overtime periods.

“This team is showing a lot of characteristics of a pretty good team,” Paul said afterward. “We’re trying to strive for greatness, but a lot of lessons can be learned, even in a win. I’m glad we were on the winning side, especially since we blew a big lead. This says a lot about what we have here in this locker room…We had to have this one.”

In one Washington had to have, The Truth was backed up by the team’s biggest star, John Wall, whose legacy only grew on the night. Wall tallied 26 points, a career-high 17 assists, seven rebounds and three steals, including D.C.’s final 10 points of the night. And afterward, he gave an emotional tribute.

“Man, he was unbelievable for us in overtime,” The Truth said of Wall. “He just got to the rim at will, he just pushed the ball and like I said before, he’s growing right before our eyes, not only from a star to a superstar, but into one of the very best players few in this league at his position, if not the best. And you can see it each and every week, he shows something to make you think like ‘Man, is he not the best point guard? He’s our leader. Everybody talks about Paul the veteran, but he’s one of our leaders on this ballclub and when he speaks, we listen.”

In addition to an enormous, emotional win for Wall and the Wiz, it was a monumental night for “Paul the veteran.” When No. 34 knocked down a free throw in the second quarter, he passed Hall of Famer Reggie Miller for 16th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

“I think it’s all great but I really don’t think it’s going to sink in until I’m done playing,” Paul said of moving up the scoring list. “Everything is still going, I still have a lot of basketball left to play, I’ve accomplished a lot of things in this game but I don’t think it’s really going to truly sink in until I sit down, walk away from the game and say, ‘Dang, look at the things you’ve been able to accomplish.’ Right now I’m just riding this wave, you know, I’m still on my surfboard.”

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

After falling to his former team on Sunday, Paul came out ready to reverse that fortune on Monday night. No. 34 recorded seven points in the first quarter, and the Wizards shot 59 percent from the field to take a 30-29 lead. In the second, they opened things up behind four more from No. 34 and nine points from Kevin Seraphin off the bench.

The D.C. defense held the C’s under 40 percent from the floor in the second, and as a result the home team stretched its lead to 13 at the break. After the half, Paul came out firing, hoping to put away the team that drafted him No. 10 overall in 1998.

He buried two threes in the first three minutes of the half, then added a layup off a feed from Wall to make it an 18-point D.C. lead. Later in the quarter, he worked a pick-and-roll with Wall and splashed a triple from the right wing—he was fouled by Jeff Green and finished the four-point play at the line to give the Wizards a 21-point lead.

On the next possession, Wall had a steal and a running layup to make the gap 23—Washington’s largest lead of the night. However, the Celtics ended the third on an 11-4 run to set the stage for a furious fourth-quarter comeback.

Shortly after the Washington lead reached single digits at the 6:00 mark, head coach Randy Wittman sent his starters back into the game. And just over 30 seconds later, Paul picked up his fifth foul. However, he managed to play the remaining 15-plus minutes without picking up a foul, making key stops and saving the Wizards multiple times.

He did it on the offensive end as well. Evan Turner gave the Celtics a 103-102 lead when he connected from deep with 3:27 to go. Paul splashed a nifty turnaround jumper to break a 105-105 tie at the 1:24 mark, but it was Turner again, knocking down a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 110 and force overtime.

The Celtics came out in the extra session determined to pick up another win over Paul and Co., and Boston raced out to a seven-point lead in the first overtime, but The Truth came through in the clutch.

With D.C. down three in the final minute, Wall drove to the rim and kicked out to a wide-open No. 34, who knocked down the straightaway three to tie the game at 121.

https://twitter.com/rp0ch1r4/status/542148145988530176

Boston Celtics v Washington Wizards

Shortly after, he made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game. In the final seconds of the first overtime period, Celtics forward Brandon Bass corralled a long rebound on the run and had a clear path to the basket with only Paul in a position to make a play. No. 34 reacted quickly and sprinted down the court, timed his jump perfectly and forced Bass to adjust his shot at the last second. The ball seemed to hang on the rim for an eternity, then finally fell out as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to the second overtime.

Playing with five fouls, it was a risky play but Paul needed to make it for the Wizards to have a chance of staying alive.

“I’m a smart player,” The Truth said after the game. “If you look across the years, I don’t really foul out a lot. I know when I have four or five, I know how to be cautious of that. I’m very aware of it, I think I’ve only fouled out of less than 20 games career, so I know how to play with five fouls.”

In the second overtime, it was all Wall. The C’s again grabbed seven-point lead early in OT, but No. 2 came through with 10 points over the waning minutes, including several incredible drives. None was more impressive than his coast-to-coast transition take through the entire Boston defense, that ended in an old-fashioned three-point play, which gave Washington its wild 133-132 victory.

“We had to have it, no doubt,” Paul said. “It was a combination of protecting home court, and we didn’t want to get going into a back-to-back after losing two in a row. we’re trying to avoid those losing streaks as much as possible.”

NEXT UP

The Wizards (14-6) have a day off to travel to Orlando to take on the Magic (9-14) on Wednesday.

No. 34 will hope to continue his solid play against the Magic this year; in the two meetings between these teams this season, Paul put up 26 points and helped the Wizards to two wins.

The Magic are coming off back-to-back wins over Western Conference competition, as they topped the Utah Jazz and the Sacramento Kings to end a six-game cross-country road trip.

Meeting No. 3 is set for a 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sports Net.

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