It was a play added to the Washington Wizards’ offence a day earlier, and it was drawn up for a guy, Paul Pierce, who’s been doing this sort of thing for the better part of two decades.
With three defenders near him, Pierce made a fallaway, 21-foot jumper that went in off the backboard at the buzzer to lift the Wizards over the Atlanta Hawks 103-101 on Saturday night, despite playing without John Wall and after letting a 21-point lead evaporate.
As he left the court after giving the Wizards a 2-1 lead in the NBA play-offs second round, Pierce was asked on TV whether he called "Bank!" on the winner.
“I called, ‘Game!”’ Pierce declared.
He had more fun at his news conference.
“Usually,” Pierce said, “I like to save those type of shots for later rounds.”
Told that Dennis Schroder, one of the Hawks who tried in vain to disrupt the game-winner, called it “a lucky shot” Pierce chuckled. Then, referring to his lengthy career, Pierce retorted: “Well, I guess Schroder is going to say that, because he’s a little young. He hasn’t been able to see it over the last 17 years.”
Pierce is 37, and he has a nerve in his back that acts up from time to time, including in the first half Saturday. He won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, and is well aware that time is running out on his career.
“I’m still soaking it up,” Pierce said, “because I don’t have too many more of these left.”
Game 4 in the best-of-7 series is Monday night at Washington.
It was the second straight day a bank shot at the buzzer won an NBA play-off game. Derrick Rose hit a three off the glass to give Chicago a 99-96 victory over Cleveland on Friday.
On Saturday, Washington were missing Wall, their all-star point guard, for a second consecutive game because of a broken left hand, but it was the Hawks who seemed out of sorts most of the evening.
The Wizards led by 21 with less than 10 minutes left.
“We got comfortable,” said Bradley Beal, who had 17 points and eight assists for Washington. “We thought the game was over.”
Even Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer put it this way: “You feel like you’re not going to be able to close that gap.”
Yet Budenholzer’s small line-up of little-used reserves made things interesting.
A 17-0 run got the visitors within three points with less than 3 minutes 30 seconds remaining.
And Mike Muscala’s three-pointer with 14.1 seconds left tied it.
But Pierce came through as the clock hit zero, releasing the ball with about a second to go, then falling to his back on the court with arms aloft.
“Took my time. You know, wanted to make sure I got the shot off with no time on the clock,” Pierce said. “I’ve been in those situations many times.”
Beal was the first teammate to reach Pierce, throwing punches at the veteran’s chest.
The rest of the Wizards then mobbed Pierce, with Wall jumping up and down near the pile. When Pierce rose, Wall pulled off his teammate’s red headband.
“Luckily we didn’t all get on top of him,” said Otto Porter, who scored 17 points for Washington. “Just try to save his body for the next game.”
Pierce finished with 13 points, including three of the Wizards’ 10 threes.
“That’s what he does,” Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore said. “He’s a future Hall of Famer. He’s been there before. His favourite (saying) is, ‘This is why they brought me here,’ and he showed us.”
*Associated Press
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Biog:
Age: 34
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite sport: anything extreme
Favourite person: Muhammad Ali
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
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Jawan
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