Simple Truth: Pierce Most Clutch Player of Era

            The Washington Wizards were on the verge of an epic playoff collapse. The sold-out crowd at Verizon Center had gone silent after Atlanta Hawks backup center Mike Muscala hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 14.1 seconds to go. Muscala’s 3-pointer capped off a 25-5 Hawks run over seven minutes of play that included a stretch of 17 unanswered points. After watching his team squander a 21-point fourth quarter lead, Washington head coach Randy Wittman knew there was only one player that could save his team from an embarrassing meltdown. Naturally, Wittman drew up a play for Paul Pierce, who made a Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics hitting daggers and game-winners.

            On a pass from Bradley Beal, Pierce had the ball at the top of the key with point guard Dennis Schroder guarding him on a switch. With the smaller Schroder defending him, Pierce knew it was time to work his magic.

            Get out of the way.

            Those were the words Pierce shouted at Beal before the 37-year-old former NBA Finals MVP banked in a 21-foot fallaway jumper off the backboard as the buzzer sounded to give Washington a 103-101 victory. Pierce helped the Wizards—playing without their floor general and superstar point guard John Wall—avoid disaster to take a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the top-seeded Hawks.

            ESPN’s Chris Broussard got a hold of Pierce and asked the veteran, known as The Truth, whether he called “Bank!” on the game-winning shot.

            “I called game,” Pierce proclaimed before walking off the court.

            Washington fans have fallen in love with The Truth, who is still making big baskets in his 17^th year in the league. Pierce has now come up clutch in bigtime fashion in three of the Wizards’ six wins this postseason. In Game 1 of the first-round series against the Toronto Raptors, Pierce bailed his team out—who choked a big lead in that game too—by hitting a back-breaking 3-pointer in overtime before sealing the victory with a pair of free throws. He finished with a game-high 20 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the field.

            Game 3 of the Wizards-Raptors series saw Pierce score eight points in the final two minutes, including two gut-wrenching 3-pointers that helped the Wizards win their third straight playoff game in an eventual sweep over Toronto.

            Pierce’s dagger on Saturday was even more clutch. Not only was it a buzzer-beater, it was also a shot that saved the game for a team that had collapsed in the final frame. Had the Wizards lost Game 3 they likely would have lost the series. Blowing a huge lead in a postseason game and still managing to win the series is extremely hard. Devoid of its best player in Wall—sitting out due to a wrist injury suffered in the opening game of the series—it’s difficult to imagine Washington recovering from a loss like this. But Pierce refused to let Atlanta grab the series lead, potentially saving the Wizards’ season.

            Saturday’s buzzer put Pierce in rare company among players in the past decade:

Over the last 10 years, the only players with more than 1 game-winning buzzer-beater in the playoffs are LeBron James and Paul Pierce.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 10, 2015

            (For those who forget, Pierce's other buzzer-beater came in Game 3 of the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Miami Heat)

            Another amazing stat:

Pierce has shot 8-for-12 (66.7%) in the 4th Quarter or overtime this postseason #TheTruth @WashWizards pic.twitter.com/3DfnmT20s1

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 10, 2015

            Pierce’s ability to thrive in the clutch this late in his career is truly incredible. As the best player on the Celtics for a decade and a half, Pierce was always the go-to-guy with the game on the line. But even as a glorified role player with the Brooklyn Nets and Wizards, he still is the most lethal man on the court with a chance to win the game.

            It’s fair to say that LeBron James is the best player of this era, Kobe Bryant is the best scorer of the era and Tim Duncan is the best power forward of the era (and of all-time). As for Pierce? He holds the distinction of the most clutch player of his era. Saturday's improbable buzzer-beater further solidified Pierce as the league’s deadliest player in the closing seconds of a game.

Paul Pierce raises arms in celebration as Bradley Beal and Will Bynum run over to congratulate the game's hero.
(Geoffe Burke/USA Today Sports)