Last summer, Paul Pierce joined the Washington Wizards in one of the marquee moves of the 2014 NBA offseason. Throughout his 17th NBA season, Paul provided the budding young D.C. squad with some marvelous performances that allowed them to advance into the playoffs, where he continued to shine. This offseason, we’re looking back at his Top 5 performances of the season.

In at No. 2 is yet another clutch, game-winning bucket by The Truth, and this one came complete with a new addition to Paul’s book of epic quotes.

NO. 2—May 9, 2015: PAUL CALLS GAME

In an incredible NBA season, the most memorable moment might have been when The Truth called “game.”

It was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, at the Verizon Center in D.C., and Paul Pierce’s Wizards were tied at one game apiece with the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks, and they did so with All-Star point guard John Wall on the bench with five fractures in his hand and wrist.

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Many counted the Wizards out as soon as Wall went down with the injury, but The Truth knocked down an incredible fadeaway jumper off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded to lift Washington to a 103-101 victory in front of what was likely the loudest crowd in the nation’s capital all season.

“There was a sense we would lose in the first round to Toronto,” he said. “Everybody’s going to have their opinion. This is a great group of guys who understand when we’re on, when we’re at our best, we feel like it’s only us in that locker room who’s going to give us a chance. They put the predictions out each round, I know some of the guys see it. I hear it. But we don’t really pay attention to that. We felt like we should have won Game 2, truthfully. Even with John out, we feel like we have enough in that room to win a game, to win this series, and it’s not going to deter us from our goals.”

When asked by reporter Chris Broussard immediately after the game if he called “bank,” Paul gave the single best answer to a question of the 2014-15 NBA season.

Washington desperately needed to protect its home court while hoping Wall could make his return at some point, and for much of the game, it looked to be cruising to an easy win. The Wizards led by 20 with less than eight minutes to go in the fourth, and they needed to maintain their distance for just a short while longer before they could start pulling starters to get some extra rest for Game 4.

All of a sudden, everything went wrong for the Wizards.

The Hawks scored seven unanswered points in 69 seconds, then added another 10 after a Wizards timeout; the run turned a 94-74 game at the 7:37 mark into a 94-91 game at the 3:12 mark.

The crowd was stunned. The Wizards were stunned. Wall, on the bench, was stunned.

Just when it seemed Washington’s storybook postseason would continue rolling along without a hitch, the top team in the East suddenly had the Wizards against the ropes on their home court.

A timeout by head coach Randy Wittman allowed Washington a moment to recover, and it responded with a brief run to get the lead back to six, but the Hawks were relentless.

Atlanta Hawks v Washington Wizards-Game Three

Trailing by three with 20 seconds and counting on the clock, Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague drove toward the hoop, only to lose control of the ball and nearly give the game away. Instead, he composed himself and found Mike Muscala open on the wing for the game-tying three pointer, forcing Wittman to call time.

It was one of just two triples Muscala drained in the postseason, and he converted just nine in the regular season, yet he made the one that mattered.

“You’re a little disappointed in your head, but you don’t want to be on the sideline with your head down,” Paul said after the game about the moment right after Muscala’s shot. “My thing is, when I’m in the timeout, I’m just trying to stay positive. Like, ‘look, it’s over with, we can’t dwell on it. Someway, somehow, we’ve got to find a way to win.’ You don’t want to have bad energy in the timeout, even though you’re disappointed. I’m sure everybody on that sideline was disappointed, especially being up 21, for them to get it down to tie the game with less than a minute

[remaining].”

On the ensuing play, the Wizards ran the ball through shooting guard Bradley Beal, and he quickly found No. 34 near the top of the key.

Paul held the ball for a few moments, stared his man down, motioned for Beal to clear his man and himself out of the way, took a dribble to his left as two additional defenders flocked to him and launched the shot as he fell to the floor.

Atlanta Hawks v Washington Wizards-Game Three

The ball smacked off the heart of the backboard square and fell through the nylon as the horn sounded and the glass glowed red. Paul’s arms shot up as he lay on his back, craning his neck to see the shot drop.

“I caught it at the elbow and I saw [point guard Dennis] Schroder on me, and I saw Beal—he was at the top of the key with his man kind of helping [on me]—so I was just kind of yelling at him: ‘Get out, give me some room,’ so I could go either left or right,” Paul explained. “I wish it didn’t come down to it, usually I save those type of shots for later rounds, but it came down to it and Coach put me in position to do some of the things I’ve done over the years.”

The miraculous shot surely stunned plenty of people, but those who have seen The Truth come through in the clutch for years knew what to expect. After all, the future Hall of Famer had already carried the Wizards to a handful of victories in the playoffs—of course he would be the one to hit the big shot.

“That’s what he does,” Hawks guard Kent Bazemore said. “He’s a future Hall of Famer. He’s been there before. His favorite (saying) is, ‘This is why they brought me here,’ and he showed us.”

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