The Truth spoke loudly late Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards played host to the Oklahoma City Thunder. After starting the game 0-for-6 from three, Paul Pierce displayed his customary clutch confidence, knocking down two key three pointers in the final two minutes to put the Wiz in position to win.

However, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder were just a bit louder. The OKC point guard hit the tying layup at the end of regulation and the game-winner at the end of overtime, as D.C. fell 105-103.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Washington Wizards

After the game, Paul talked about the playoff-caliber atmosphere at the Verizon Center and how just a couple of late defensive lapses made the difference in the hotly contested bout.

“I thought we could’ve done better with our late-game execution defensively. I thought we were pretty solid most of the night until that last play. There’s no way you should give up a layup with three seconds to go,” Paul told reporters after the game. “But for the most part, it was just one of those tooth and nail playoff-type games where whoever executes at the end or gets the big stop at the end is going to win that game. We made crucial plays, they made crucial plays, we didn’t turn the ball over, we rebounded. We did all the things that usually is a recipe for winning for us, but unfortunately down the stretch, we didn’t get the win.”

No. 34 pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds to go with 14 points, including the final six in regulation for the Wizards. He also added two assists and two steals. All five Washington starters finished in double figures, while Rasual Butler and Kevin Seraphin each had nine off the bench.

But ultimately, OKC’s dynamic duo proved to be too much. The D.C.-born Durant led the way with 34, while Westbrook had 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The two scored all 13 of their team’s points in overtime, including that final play The Truth referred to.

After the Thunder dribbled down the clock for 19 seconds, Paul wisely took a foul to give the Thunder just 3.6 seconds to run a play. The final play called for Paul to cover Durant, but when Steven Adams set a screen on Paul, The Truth got switched onto Adams while Nene picked up Durant. Adams then cut back to the hoop, making 6’7” Paul the only Wizard in the paint.

Off the inbound, Westbrook acted quickly and drove to the basket with a head full of steam. No. 34 was then the only thing between the explosive point guard and the basket, but he was still responsible for covering Adams at the same time, leaving Westbrook open for an easy go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left.

“I’ll definitely take the blame for this game,” Beal told reporters after John Wall’s desperation three at the buzzer missed badly. “Everybody else had their man, I kind of lost focus for a minute. He got away from me and he ended up hitting the game-winning layup.”

Paul also shouldered some of the blame on that final play, explaining how Westbrook flew to the rim as he tried to deal with the bigger Adams down low.

“Truthfully, I’m not even sure. The game is replaying so fast right now in my head,” Paul said. “I just saw Westbrook coming down the middle—I was the guy right there, I had the opportunity to step up, I felt a little push but it’s no excuse, he shouldn’t get a layup. Maybe I could have fouled him or prevented it or did a better job.”

The Wizards wouldn’t have even had a shot to win the game if it wasn’t for some enormous plays by No. 34 late in the game. Not only did he score the final six Wizards points in regulation, which came on his only two threes of the game, but he did everything else one could ask from a 37-year-old small forward.

Durant was the focal point in the media before the game, as “KD2DC” hoopla was topic No. 1 for Wizards fans. But right from the beginning, Paul made it known that the small forward position in D.C. currently belongs to The Truth, making a crafty move along the baseline followed by a vicious throwdown over Andre Roberson for the Wizards’ second basket.

The very next play, The Truth snatched the ball from Durant putting pressure on the reigning MVP on the other end of the floor. Washington had a strong first quarter offensively, tallying 31 points to take a five-point lead. Then the Wiz did it with defense in the second, holding the Thunder to 12 points on 18.2 percent shooting to make it a 12-point cushion at the half.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Washington Wizards

After the break, the Thunder responded with a 13-4 run as Washington couldn’t get anything to fall offensively So Paul responded on the defensive end once again, stripping Durant of the ball as he drove to the rim. It didn’t translate to points on the other end, but it did temporarily stop OKC from creeping closer and building momentum.

Later in the third, the Thunder were on yet another run, this time a 9-2 run that had just narrowed the gap to 56-55. With no offense to speak of in the third quarter, the Wizards looked like they were on the brink of a collapse, and after Wall missed yet another mid-range jumper, the Thunder seemed poised to take the lead.

Then, No. 34 came out of nowhere to corral the offensive rebound and put it back up to give the Wizards a three-point lead. After Westbrook made a tough three-point play on the next possession to tie it up, Paul came back with a veteran post move to put Washington up 60-58 and give the Wizards some momentum. They used that momentum to put another 10 points on the board in the final three minutes of the period, sending the game to the fourth quarter with Washington up 70-66.

As Head Coach Randy Wittman usually does, he had The Truth rest the final few minutes of the third and first half of the fourth period. Paul re-entered the game at the 6:34 mark of the fourth quarter with the Wizards trailing by two. A few minutes of back and forth later, and Washington was down 87-84 with just more than three minutes to play.

Wall picked off a Westbrook pass and found Beal open for three, but the young guard couldn’t convert on what would have been a huge momentum boost for the home team. Luckily for the Wizards, No. 34 was there. The 17-year veteran dove to the floor for the loose ball, secured it and called time, allowing Washington to retain possession and regain its composure.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Washington Wizards

Wall then drew the foul on the ensuing play and knocked down both free throws, the Wizards got a stop on defense, and then Paul did what he has done so many times in his career: He knocked down a clutch jumper.

This was the first of The Truth’s big threes, but he followed it up with a second just two minutes later, both times putting Washington up by two.

Despite his shot not falling all game, Paul had the gall to take the big shots with the game on the line, and he knocked down two massive trifectas. The second fell from up top with just 34.1 seconds to go, but on the very next play, the D.C. defense failed to contain Westbrook, who drove the lane for the tying layup.

In the extra period, the Wiz worked off largely off their star point guard, Wall. He used not only his shooting prowess, but dribble penetration to attack and create buckets for Nene down low. This strategy had Washington keeping pace with Durant and Westbrook, setting up a tie game with 3.6 seconds to go.

A defensive stop on that final play would’ve at least given the Wizards another shot in a second overtime, but the speedy Westbrook couldn’t be contained, and the Wiz were saddled with a narrow loss.

NEXT UP

The Wizards will try to bounce back from the crushing loss against OKC with a grueling four-in-five Western Conference road trip, beginning Saturday in Portland. The trip kicks off with the most difficult game, as the Trail Blazers are second in the West at 31-12, but there aren’t likely to be any easy games in the stretch that features games against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

“This is a huge trip for us,” Paul said Wednesday night. “We’ve got to worry about the first game before we can move on, but everybody understands the importance of this trip.”

In the Wizards’ last big Western Conference road trip, they lost three of five games, including all three in a row, back at the turn of the new year.

Though this stretch looks a bit easier on paper, it will be anything but a breeze for Paul and the Wizards.

Portland will be hungry for a win when The Truth comes to town. The Blazers roared their way to a 30-8 record, but have hit a bit of a slump, losing four of the last five games. They’ll host Paul’s former team, the Boston Celtics, Thursday night as a preamble to their nationally televised tilt with the Wizards.

The Wiz and the Blazers will be featured on NBA TV at 10 p.m. EST Saturday night.

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