Still The Truth: Paul Pierce Hits Buzzer-Beater To Beat Hawks
BOSTON (CBS) - At age 37, Paul Pierce showed the NBA on Saturday night why you can still call him the Truth.
The Wizards small forward bailed his new team by drilling a buzzer-beater as time expired to lift Washington to a 103-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Wizards now lead the best-of-seven series by a 2-1 margin.
The hosts led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, before the Hawks made a ferocious comeback in the game's final 10 minutes, tying things up with a Mike Muscala 3-point shot with 14 seconds remaining. From there, Pierce saved Washington from potentially suffering one of the worst losses in franchise history.
Pierce's game-winner brought back fond memories for Celtics fans, who witnessed the team's former captain hit those kind of clutch shots throughout his Boston tenure.
Bradley Beal dished the ball to Pierce with five seconds remaining on the clock at the elbow, and Pierce backed down a smaller defender in Dennis Schroder before firing off a long jumper. The attempt banked off the glass before going down, giving the Wizards a crucial win without John Wall (left hand injury).
After being questioned about whether he called glass on the game-winner, Pierce delivered a walk-off line for the ages to ESPN's Chris Broussard.
#ICalledGame https://t.co/XG4nFjaoYv
— NBA (@NBA) May 10, 2015
Pierce finished the night with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and one new addition to his Hall-of-Fame highlight reel. With the Celtics eliminated from the postseason, it's fair to say Boston fans are all aboard the Wizards bandwagon this season as Pierce attempts to make more one deep playoff run with his new young squad.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.