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Wizards sting Hawks with Pierce heroics
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Paul Pierce banked in the game-winner on Saturday to lift the short-handed Washington Wizards to a 103-101 National Basketball Association playoff victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Pierce’s heroics gave the Wizards a 2-1 lead over Eastern Conference top seeds Hawks in their best-of-seven second-round series — and thwarted Atlanta’s bid to rally from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit.
There was no such drama in Memphis, where the Grizzlies took a 2-1 series lead over Western Conference top seed Golden State with a 99-89 victory over the Warriors.
In Washington, Wizards coach Randy Wittman could afford to joke when the dust had settled.
“Had it all the way, huh?” quipped Wittman after watching his team squander a 21-point lead only to win it at the last gasp.
Washington’s All-Star guard John Wall, who has five fractures in his non-shooting left hand, watched from the sidelines in civilian clothes as his team built a comfortable lead, only to see it evaporate in the final 10 minutes as the Hawks, sparked by their reserves, stormed back with a 21-3 scoring run. That included a stretch of 17 unanswered points to make it 94-91 with 3:12 to play.
Mike Muscala pulled the Hawks level with a three-pointer with 14.8 seconds to play.
Pierce held the ball for the last shot and banked in a jumper as the buzzer sounded, sparking wild celebration among his teammates.
“I’ve been in that situation many times,” Pierce, 37, said. “If I miss, we don’t want them to be able to call a timeout. So I took my time and got my shot... I’m just happy we won. ”
The Wizards managed nicely without Wall, with Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and Nene scoring 17 points apiece.
Jeff Teague had 18 points for Atlanta, Al Horford added 14 and DeMarre Carroll chipped in with 12.
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