Monday’s showdown between the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans seemed destined to come down to a battle between two of the NBA’s rising superstars John Wall and Anthony Davis. Instead, Paul Pierce, took over and taught the kids a lesson that produced a win for the Wiz.

The Truth tallied 14 points off 6-of-8 shooting and knocked down both of his three-point attempts, his point total second only to Wall for the Wiz. He also helped to guide a fantastic defensive effort, as D.C. forced 18 turnovers to silence the Pelicans en route to a 92-85 win.

Washington Wizards v New Orleans Pelicans

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Washington, its longest of the season—and also provided a happy ending to a rough Western Conference road trip. The Wizards started the five-game trip with a victory over the Houston Rockets before falling to the Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in succession.

In all four of those games, the D.C. defense was gouged for more than 100 points, but before heading home for a two-game stay against a pair of Eastern Conference rivals, the Wizards were able to right the ship with a better defensive effort on Monday night in New Orleans, one that was well received by No. 34.

“That’s not the way we wanted to end the trip, obviously,” Paul said of the team’s 2-3 mark on the trip. “You want to win at least three to four games, if not all of them. But we got back to our principles tonight. Tonight was the first game in the trip that we didn’t allow 100 points. That’s who we are.”

Washington also got a massive boost from its bench, which combined for 41 points. Andre Miller led the way with 12 points off 5-of-5 shooting.

As he regularly does, Paul opened the scoring for the Wizards, this time with a three off a Wall assist. Moments later, No. 34 got to the hoop for two, also via an assist from Wall, who finished with 15 points, 12 dimes and four steals, continuing his All-Star caliber season.

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Afterward the Washington point man noted that the team’s recent play was not indicative of their ability and felt a sense of pride that the Wizards were able to return to their primary characteristics, especially on defense, rather than overreacting to their first three-game losing streak of the season.

“We got back to our concepts of helping each other,” Wall said. “The only thing that kind of hurt us in the first half was offensive rebounds. Other than that we did what we were supposed to. We blocked shots, we covered for each other. We’re a team that’s, what, like 19-1 when we hold teams under 100? So other than that, we’re doing a great job. Our main focus is us to get to 100 but to keep teams under 100.”

The Wizards, who allowed an average of 106.75 points per game over the first four games of the road trip, held the Pelicans below 90 points for the second time this season. When the two teams played in D.C. in November, the Wizards eked out an 83-80 victory, which remains the second-lowest scoring output Washington has allowed this season.

Washington Wizards v New Orleans Pelicans

While defense has been the calling card for the Wiz, they’ve also shown some deft offensive play early in the season and used that on Monday to build an early lead. In fact, the first five Wizards buckets all came with assists, a sign of the team’s exceptional ball movement.

Paul had five points in the first, while Wall added eight to give the Wiz a 27-23 lead going into the second quarter. The second unit took over in the second, as Miller, Rasual Butler, Kevin Seraphin and Otto Porter Jr. combined for 16 points. Led by the production of their reserve group, the Wiz shot 58.8 percent in the frame to add four points to their lead.

With his team up 52-44, Paul came out anxious to put the Pelicans and started the second half in kind, immediately draining a 15-foot jumper. Later in the third, The Truth knocked down a three, his second of the game, then followed it up a few minutes later with a tip-in after Wall misfired on a three of his own.

The Truth buoyed the Wiz with seven points in the third, though the Pelicans — behind a combined 20 points from Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans — cut three points off the D.C. lead.

Washington entered the final frame up just 69-64, but head coach Randy Wittman still had no problem turning to his second unit to light the way home. In the final period, Miller turned in eight points, while Butler and Kris Humphries combined for 11 to keep the Pelicans at arm’s length.

None of the starting five punched in for more than 5:36 in the final frame, but Wall still knocked down a key dagger late. After a Ryan Anderson three cut the Wizards lead to four, the visitors mounted an 8-2 run, capped by a Wall jumper to bring the lead back to 10 with just less than two minutes to go.

Paul came in for the final three minutes and change, and in that span, the Wiz used some stingy defense to hold the Pelicans to eight points and snuff out any hopes for a final rally. The Wizards were plus-8 with The Truth on the floor through the night.

Afterward, No. 34 talked at length about the team’s intensity on defense and efficiency on offense, and how both lead to a winning formula.

“When we don’t give 100 points, we’re pretty much the best team in the league,” Paul said. “We got back to a lot of those principles, watched some film and went over it again in shootaround. That’s who we are. We can’t be a team that allows guys easy opportunities in the paint. We can’t be a team that turns the ball over more than we assist the ball. We got back to the basic principles of who we are today, and hopefully it will carry over to next week.”

NEXT UP

After a five-game trip, the Wizards return home to host the New York Knicks on Wednesday in their first home game of 2015.

The Knicks (5-32) hold the worst record in the NBA and just completed a trade to send Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Smith and Shumpert each averaged more than 25 minutes per game during their time with the Knicks this season.

Washington Wizards v New York Knicks

Usually, when the two teams meet, Paul will be matched up against Carmelo Anthony, the man he recently listed as the most difficult player he’s ever had to guard in a piece he scribed for The Players’ Tribune. Among the reasons The Truth lists for his ranking of Anthony, he describes Melo’s size, strength, versatility and jump shot as weapons the former Syracuse star can use to beat a defender. The 17-year veteran calls Melo “the most difficult player to guard in the league,” saying “every facet of his game is elite.”

Anthony showed off some of those facets the last time the Wizards and Knicks met, which was on Christmas Day in Madison Square Garden. Melo dropped 34 points that day, albeit on 28 shots, and Paul was held to just three points while focusing his energy on the defensive end.

Still, The Truth contained Anthony enough for the Wizards to prevail, pulling out a 102-91 win that Washington never trailed in.

However Anthony is unlikely to play in Wednesday tilt in D.C. as he deals with a knee injury that has sidelined him for seven games this season, including New York’s most recent three.

The Knicks last played on Monday, hours after trading Smith and Shumpert, and recorded their 12th consecutive loss, tying a franchise record. A long time Knicks rival, The Truth would love nothing more than to send New York spinning to a 13th straight defeat on Wednesday night.

Tip-off of the showdown at the Verizon Center is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on Comcast Sports Net.

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