Paul Pierce Is Teaching Invaluable Lessons to Young Wizards Stars
It's easy to see Paul Pierce knock down clutch buckets and think that's the reason he's with the Washington Wizards.
Especially when he voices that opinion himself.
"That's why we brought him here," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said of Pierce's late-game heroics, per ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk. "[Pierce is] not scared of the moment."
No one can argue that.
Pierce has been cool in crunch time throughout his NBA career. He routinely dropped daggers during 15 seasons spent with the Boston Celtics. He carried the fourth-quarter torch again last year, his first and only with the Brooklyn Nets.
And now, 37 years young, he's showcasing those late-game-savior skills on a Wizards team that's still learning the standards of postseason play. He scored 11 of his 18 points during in the fourth quarter of Friday's 106-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.
"He still is who he is," Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan said, per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press.
Paul Pierce is still The Truth. But there's a lot more to that nickname than memorable makes.
In a lot of ways, he holds the key to Washington's future—even though he won't play an active role in it.
The light at the end of his tunnel is close enough to touch. He had never played fewer minutes per game than he did this season (26.2), and his entire stat sheet was subsequently a series of personal lows. He has a $5.5 million player option for 2015-16, via Basketball Insiders, but he knows his future holds only uncertainty.
"At this point in my career, I'm savoring these moments because I don't know how many more of these moments I'm going to have," he said Friday, via USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. "That's what makes special nights like tonight."
He might be filling his memory banks, but more importantly, he's strengthening Washington's foundation.
The Wizards could not have found a better teacher for their young building blocks—John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter. Pierce is not only helping them get through this postseason test, he's preparing them for the ones that lie ahead.
These past few weeks have been a masterpiece of true veteran leadership.
The Wizards stumbled into the playoffs by posting an uninspiring 13-15 record after the All-Star break. Their offense was a mess (25th in efficiency over that stretch), and Pierce seemed powerless to help it. He sat out four games during the month of April and made a negligible impact in the four he played (6.8 points in 22.3 minutes).
But Pierce didn't need numbers to turn Washington's season around. A lengthy chat with ESPN Boston's Jackie MacMullan took care of that.
For starters, Pierce challenged the Wizards' young guns to do better.
"Both of those guys have the potential to be great," he said of Wall and Beal. "I love them. But sometimes I'm not sure they realize what it takes. ... Otto is another one who just doesn't understand how good he is."
Those were risky words. If taken the wrong way, they could have fully fractured an already splintering team.
But Wall accepted the challenge.
"I think it was great. It is. It's a great point," John Wall said, according to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. "He also told me I'm the key to how far this team goes."
Wall has struggled finding his shot through three playoff games (36.7 percent), but he's still increased both his scoring (18.3, up from 17.6) and his assists (13.3, up from 10.0) from the regular season. Beal erupted for 28 points in Game 2. Porter, a career 43.4 percent shooter the first two seasons of his career, has converted 63.2 percent of his field-goal attempts and locked down the defensive end.
Pierce doesn't have his fingerprints on all of those numbers, though the time he's spent as a stretch 4 has given this offense much better floor spacing. And it doesn't seem like his words fell on deaf ears.
The Wizards have found the fight that eluded them in the second half. And Pierce's willingness to pick one of his own has simplified that process.
During that same interview with MacMullan, the wily veteran threw a verbal jab at Toronto.
The Raptors were only a possible playoff opponent for the Wizards then, but they were one that had dealt Washington three losses in their regular-season meetings. Still, Pierce said he wasn't worried about that statistic or the Raptors as a whole.
"We haven't done particularly well against Toronto, but I don't feel they have the 'It' that makes you worried,'' he said.
Just like that, Pierce became public enemy No. 1 north of the border. He had riled up everyone: Raptors' executives, their fans, even a Toronto newspaper.
But Pierce naturally played it cool in the face of so much heat.
"I don’t mind playing the role of underdog, villain or whatever you want to call it. I was just trying to help my team win, try to give us a mental edge," Pierce said, per Michael Lee of The Washington Post. "If that's the role I'm going to play, I just got to embrace it."
That wasn't everything that Pierce did. By throwing himself into the spotlight—which the stat sheets said he'd vacated long ago—he shielded his younger, less experienced teammates from a rowdy Raptors fanbase, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald observed:
Before Pierce removed that pressure, though, he taught the Wizards how to handle it.
As he explained to Lee, Pierce used his experience to guide his teammates out of that late-season skid:
"You’re going to have your mental lapses. The young guys are young. A lot of them don't have kids, so they have good times on the road. They go out, party sometimes. That's the way it is. I was a young guy, did those things. Sometimes, you're not locked in the whole 82.
I told them, the last week of the season, throw all that stuff out the window. Focus on the job at hand, you've got all summer to party and all that stuff. Right now, it's the playoffs, it's serious business.
"
The Wizards are playing with a purpose now.
They have controlled this series at both ends of the floor. Their sometimes-stagnant offense has piled up 111.5 points on 50.3 percent shooting over the last two games. Their defense has constantly flustered Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams, holding the high-scoring trio to 32.2 percent shooting.
Washington looks comfortable and confident on the postseason stage. And that all points back to Pierce.
"His confidence inspires others," wrote SB Nation's Jesus Gomez. "A veteran who has been there and can handle the pressure is exactly what a young team like the Wizards needs."
These lessons aren't likely to yield a title run right now. Washington still looks a half-step behind the league's true elites. This team might be lucky to reach the Eastern Conference Finals—and something far more special than that to advance beyond them.
But the gifts that Pierce is giving have lasting power. When Wall and Beal are ready for basketball's brightest lights, this time spent with Pierce will prove invaluable.
That is the real reason why he's in the District.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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