Paul Pierce Injury: Updates on Wizards Star's Knee and Return

Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce was ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves just before tipoff. He returned to action on Feb. 28. 

Continue for updated.

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Pierce Returns vs. Pistons

Saturday, Feb. 28

Pierce was available against the Pistons, the Wizards announced. 

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Pierce Injures Knee

Wednesday, Feb. 25

The Wizards' Twitter account had the news:

Pierce, 37, is in his first season in Washington, and his body has largely held up well. He's missed only three games all year, none of which have been consecutive, despite a bothersome toe injury and the general aches and pains that come with being closer to 40 than 30.

The Wizards have done a nice job of generally keeping his minutes in the low 20s, but Pierce has been, for all intents and purposes, an excellent value signing. His per-36 minutes stats mirror almost perfectly his one-season stop in Brooklyn. The only real reason he's noticed any downtick in counting stats is because of a 19.2 usage rate, according to ESPN.com. That's by far a career low.

Pierce has been a consistent floor-spacer and three-point shooter, can still ratchet up the intensity on defense in spots and has been a crunch-time killer all year. While Rasual Butler and Martell Webster can approximate some of Pierce's value, the Wizards will cross their fingers that this is a short-term thing.