When Paul Pierce pocketed a corner three to give the Washington Wizards a one-point lead in Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, only 8.3 seconds showed on the clock, and it looked like The Truth had added to his lengthy list of game-winning plays.

But those 8.3 seconds proved to be too long.

On the other end of the floor, after a miss on Atlanta’s initial attempt at the win, Hawks center Al Horford snuck in for an offensive rebound and followed with a layup that dropped, sealing the fate of the Washington Wizards in a 82-81 loss that dropped Paul’s squad to a 3-2 series hole and forced them to the brink of elimination ahead of Friday’s Game 6 in D.C.

“It’s on all of us, there’s not any one player that you can point the finger at on that,” Paul said of the final play, in which Horford reached over a handful of players to grab the loose ball. “Once the shot goes up, once the ball gets up with the game on the line, we’ve all got to rebound. So lesson learned, we’re just going to be ready for Game 6.”

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Paul finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and only one turnover in a game that featured 44 giveaways between the two teams. He was also the only Wizards starter to finish with a positive plus/minus rating (+5). The Truth shot 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in the game, continuing his exceptional shooting in the postseason; the future Hall of Famer is now 33-for-61 from three-point range in the playoffs.

Though No. 34 had another solid outing, the pivotal contest between Washington and Atlanta was a mostly sloppy affair all the way through. The Wizards made just 37.5 percent of their shots from the field and Hawks team known for their shooting managed to stroke it just slightly better, at 41 percent.

But their were some promising signs for Washington in the early-going, even before the game began. All-Star point guard John Wall made his return for the Wizards after missing Games 2, 3 and 4 after a fall in Game 1 resulted in five non-displaced fractures in his left hand. Wall was on a tear before the injury, leading the NBA in postseason assists per game by a considerable margin, and his absence noticeably impacted the Wizards’ ability to move the ball.

Wall returned on Wednesday with a cast protecting his hand and wrist, but he was otherwise much like his usual dominant self. He logged 37 minutes in his return and managed 15 points, seven assists, four rebounds, four steals and two blocks—including blocking Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder’s shot in the final seconds that led to Horford’s putback.

“I thought he was great, considering everything,” Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said of Wall after the game. “I didn’t think he played tentative at all. I didn’t ever see him wince or seem to be hit or anything bother him, so that’s good. And he played like John—all out.”

Washington Wizards V Atlanta Hawks - Game five

With Wall running the show again, Washington pounded the paint early on. Starting big men Nene and Marcin Gortat combined for eight shot attempts in the first period while reserve forward Drew Gooden added three more. Then the trio combined for an additional seven in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Paul lingered in the background for much of the first half and let Wall try to establish his rhythm once more. The Truth quietly picked up three points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in 15 first-half minutes, and his five shot attempts were the fewest among Wizards starters at halftime.

Even without the legendary small forward taking over the game, and despite the Wizards shooting just 20-for-51 in the first two periods, Washington held a 47-41 advantage at the break of the defensive battle.

The third quarter was the Wall and Bradley Beal show. The two young guards combined for 11 of the team’s 17 shot attempts and nine of Washington’s 15 points. Paul did not attempt a shot as Atlanta turned a six-point deficit into a one-point lead over the course of the quarter, thanks in part to shooting 9-for-18 from the field compared to Washington’s 6-for-17.

Washington Wizards V Atlanta Hawks - Game five

The final frame was a different story for Paul and the Wizards.

The Truth played every second of the fourth quarter, which is something he didn’t do much of during the regular season, and with Washington looking to put the game away, he looked for his shot a bit more. All told, No. 34 put up four shots in the fourth and connected for a pair of threes—Washington’s only triples in the period on seven attempts.

His presence was a huge boost for the Wizards. They quickly erased a one-point deficit and opened up an eight-point lead in the first six minutes of the period. When Beal tacked on a midrange jumper at the 6:15 mark, Washington found themselves up 73-64, minutes away from taking the series lead back.

Washington Wizards V Atlanta Hawks - Game five

However over the next four minutes, the Wizards went ice cold. Washington missed their next seven shots and turned the ball over twice during a furious 14-0 Hawks run that allowed Atlanta to take a five-point, 78-73 lead with 2:29 remaining in the contest.

Afterward Paul said it was that run that marked the turning point in the contest, despite what would happen in the final two-and-a-half minutes.

“We’ve got to do a better job at closing out the game, running our offense,” Paul explained of the late-game meltdown. “We’ve got them on the ropes up nine in the fourth quarter with five minutes to go. That’s the point where we’re supposed to turn up the heat and push the game to 12, 13, 14 points and close the game a lot better.”

Though the Wizards had given away their lead, the Truth did manage to stop the bleeding with a momentum-shifting triple that brought Washington within two with about two minutes remaining.

On the other end, No. 34 came up clutch again with a steal that gave the Wiz a chance to tie or take the lead. They couldn’t convert that time down, but some exceptional defense on the ensuing Atlanta possession forced the Hawks into a shot clock violation. Gortat followed that stop with a slick hook shot to tie the game.

Then with the score tied at 78-78, Washington forced a Horford miss, and had the ball with an opportunity to seize control. With more than half of the shot clock gone, Wall handed off to Paul, who drove the lane. But he was trapped there by three Atlanta defenders. The Truth stopped and pivoted back, looking for Wall, but the ball was knocked loose by Kyle Korver, and the play resulted in an easy fast-break deuce, and an 80-78 lead for Atlanta.

Paul was upset after the play at the lack of a whistle. He felt there was a fair amount of contact, as Korver slapped his wrist and the two went crashing to the floor—but no call was made and the damage was done.

What sets Paul apart from many of his peers is his ability to compartmentalize and put things like that play behind him, and he did so in such short order that it was he who came right back with the bucket to put the Wizards ahead. While drawing up a play in the timeout after the turnover, Wittman called The Truth’s number. And the play unfolded according to plan. Otto Porter Jr. inbounded to Beal, who drove to the baseline and kicked to Paul in the corner. From there, No. 34 buried the trifecta to give D.C. an 81-80 lead with 8.3 to go.

Washington Wizards V Atlanta Hawks - Game five

His clutch three was just the latest of so many he’s hit in his career, both long ago and in the past month, but this one didn’t quite seal the deal. The Hawks had 8.3 seconds to work with, and they drew up a play to get Schroder a layup.

After Schroder initially got by Wall to penetrate the pain, the All-Star point guard flew in to alter the layup attempt, swatting the shot off the backboard and into a crowd of big men. The chaos of the block and its altered trajectory left the Wizards unsure of how to best position themselves, and amongst the disconnect, Horford got free for a sky-high rebound.

He landed with the ball in his hands and Nene was knocked down in the process, leaving Horford with an open layup, which he easily converted. Washington was out of timeouts, and with just 1.9 showing on the game clock, it was forced to throw up a desperation heave. Paul found Wall near halfcourt, and he chucked up a prayer that missed everything, and the Wizards fell 82-81.

Though that late game turn of events led to their demise, Paul said it was the Wizards’ play in the fourth as a whole that set them up for failure.

“Too many turnovers in the fourth, just got to be able to execute a lot better. It comes down to one rebound, but it shouldn’t have come down to that,” he said. “The turnovers bothered us, really hurt us in the fourth quarter. Gotta do a better job of making the extra pass and moving the ball. That’s basically it…tough loss, tough one to swallow, down the stretch didn’t get the rebound, but like I said, it shouldn’t have come down to that.”

Washington Wizards v Atlanta Hawks - Game Five

Paul added that Washington simply needs to play better as a team for a full 48 minutes to right the wrongs of Wednesday night and give themselves a chance at redemption.

“We’re going to look at the tape, see what we can do better, especially fourth-quarter execution when we’ve got the lead, that’s when we’ve got to be patient,” he noted. “And just be a better team. We feel like we let it go. That’s the way the ball bounce sometimes, and we’ve just gotta be ready for Game 6.”

NEXT UP

The Wizards will have to stave off elimination on Friday night at the Verizon Center, while the Hawks will try to finish them off in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-final series.

But while D.C. is the team on the brink, The Truth believes his squad, with plenty of motivation, will have the upper hand in the intangibles.

“The urgency is definitely going to be there,” Paul said of Game 6 after the loss Wednesday night. “I think the sting of this game is going to motivate us for Game 6. I think guys are really going to be fired up knowing we let one get away, so we’re going to go back home with aspirations of winning and making another trip back to Atlanta.”

The sixth installment of the series is set for a 7 p.m. ET tip and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

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