For most of his career, Paul Pierce has been the guy taking and making the clutch, buzzer-beating shots—but on Wednesday night, he was happy to be the decoy.

With 0.8 seconds left and the game tied, The Truth set a perfect pick on an inbound for Bradley Beal, who curled around the Orlando Magic defense and to the rim, where he tipped in the game-winner as the backboard lit up red, giving the Washington Wizards a 91-89 victory.

After Beal’s big bucket, Paul and the Wizards went wild in celebration of their second straight dramatic victory. The Wiz kids have been fantastic down the stretch since The Truth’s arrival, notching several close victories that—as John Wall has also attested this season— they wouldn’t have had the mettle to win last season.

“I think we’re more mature. I think last year’s team would have been too tight, too tense and would have made a mistake down the stretch,” Beal said. “I think we’ve really grown in that area and just knowing what to do in certain situations, and we practice those situations as well. I think we do a great job of staying poised and whenever we’re in these situations, we see there’s a lot of time and anything can happen, and the game’s never over till it’s over.”

Washington Wizards v Orlando Magic

It was the first cold night from the field in weeks for No. 34, who notched eight points, six rebounds and five assists in 29 minute. However, as he has all season long, Paul found a way to make a major impact, even when he didn’t shoot well.

His biggest contributions came in the first quarter, when he helped jumpstart the rest of the Wizards with his fluid passing and playmaking abilities. Paul assisted on two straight buckets early in the first: a triple from Beal and a dunk by Kris Humphries. Midway through the first, Paul splashed a three of his own amid a swift 11-0 Wizards run that put the team ahead 20-13.

Washington ended the first frame with a 26-21 lead. Paul hit another three in the second quarter, but five D.C. turnovers allowed Orlando to chip four points off the lead and make it 45-44 at the break.

The Truth had a nice assist to a wide-open John Wall, who knocked down a three midway through the third quarter. However, the Magic ended that frame on a 12-6 run, and brought an eight-point lead to the fourth.

But despite that deficit, the newfound maturity among the Wizards shined through. Washington trailed the entire final frame but held Orlando scoreless for the final minute and a half, and Rasual Butler dropped the game-tying free throw with 16 seconds to go.

On the final Magic possession, Paul and the D.C. defense forced Victor Oladipo to take a tough would-be game-winner, which hit hard off the back of the iron. Humphries pulled down the rebound and the Wiz called timeout with less than a second to go, setting up the final play.

On that last play, The Truth’s well-set screen allowed Beal to get a step ahead of his man and make a cut toward the basket, which got him an open look at an easy tip in thanks to a pinpoint pass by veteran point guard Andre Miller. After the shot, Paul and the rest of the Wizards swarmed around Beal, wrapped up in the moment of this incredible season.

Before the game, Paul discussed how important the development and performance of the bench players would be to the team throughout the year. After Miller, who backs up John Wall, came in for the final play and did his job perfectly, it was easy to see why Paul and the Wizards are so determined to get the bench players involved and playing at a high level.

“We want to see them continue to develop and continue their consistency night in and night out. Some nights the starters don’t get off to the best starts, and we need them to pick us up,” Paul said. “That’s what a team is all about.”

While the bench has been enormous, the instant growth shown by the starters has also been remarkable—particularly in their ability to stay calm in late-game situations.

“I think we’re doing a great job of just staying poised and calm down the stretch,” Beal said. “It would be a lot better if we can avoid those situations as much as possible, but whenever we are (in close games), I think we do a great job of not panicking, just running our stuff, getting stops when we need to and executing down the stretch.”

NEXT UP

Paul and the Wizards (15-6) welcome the Los Angeles Clippers (16-5) to the Phone Booth on Friday night, marking the first of the two matchups between the teams this season.

Against the Clippers, The Truth will likely be matched up against small forward Matt Barnes, who is perhaps the only starter who does not pose a serious threat offensively. Paul will likely be used to help with double teams on stars like point guard Chris Paul or power forward Blake Griffin. He could also be asked to take on a great scoring role as Wall will likely be expending a great deal of energy covering Paul.

The Clips have been one of the NBA’s hottest teams of late, winning their last nine games, including a 103-96 victory Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers.

The game begins at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sports Net.

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