When John Wall went down with injury, most NBA pundits called it a season for the Washington Wizards. After all, their All-Star point guard carried their team for most of the season, and given how bad they performed in his absence in the past, it was only safe to assume that their once promising playoff run would come to an end.

Unfortunately, most Wizards fans (including myself) and pundits alike, forgot how much that team has grown just in this past season.

Osman Baig recently wrote a lighthearted “pep-talk” before Game-3, reminding everyone that even though Wall is out, Washington still has Paul Pierce. I don’t think Oz intended to prophesy anything, but man, he was totally right.

In just this past regular season, we’ve seen the Wizards grow in areas that we couldn’t possibly see them grow without Paul Pierce in the locker room.

We’ve become so accustomed to seeing the Wizards fall short of their goals, that Pierce’s confident quotes didn’t do much for us when Wall’s left hand swelled up to a cartoonish size. Luckily, they’ve had a profound effect on the locker room and those that matter.

When Pierce said things like “why not us?” prior to the beginning of the season, alluding to Washington’s potential success on the big stage, most agreed nonchalantly.

I mean, the Wizards were coming off a successful playoff run after dismantling the Chicago Bulls, but didn’t look particularly great against the Indiana Pacers in the semifinals.

That quote, though, has carried the Wizards throughout the entire regular season and it truly manifested itself in the first round this year.

Pierce called out the Toronto Raptors for not having “it”, and while players like DeMar DeRozan brushed it off, the 37-year-old future Hall-of-Famer went out there and backed up his statements by hitting clutch shot after clutch shot, expanding his game in ways that he didn’t during the regular season.

But then Wall got hurt, suffering five fractures in Game-1 against the Hawks. It all seemed to be over.

Then Paul Pierce did what he always does.

He let the team know that they should’ve won Game-2 without Wall. That frustration helped lead Washington to a 21-point lead in Game-3 before their eventual collapse. And then Pierce hit a dagger at the buzzer, breaking Atlanta’s back in the most Paul Pierce way possible.

And then after the game, an emotional Paul Pierce was asked by ESPN’s Chris Broussard whether or not he called “bank” on his buzzer beating shot.

He said, “I called GAME,” creating a one-liner that will be a part of Washington Wizards history forever.

Pierce’s game-winning bank shot along with the goosebumps-inducing quotes made the fourth quarter collapse all worth it. We’ve seen the Wizards win in blowout fashion before, but we’ve never seen them win in the way did they yesterday.

Paul Pierce is hitting game-winning shots, in the NBA Playoffs, in a Washington Wizards uniform. Let that sink in for a moment…

When Trevor Ariza chased the money to Houston, a lot of people thought they’d lose what made them successful this past season: Veteran leadership and defense.

Pierce has been what the Wizards were missing when Ariza was in that locker room. No disrespect to Ariza or Al Harrington, who all had a great impact both on the court and in the locker room, but only a handful of players could have the effect that Paul Pierce has had on the Wizards.

We’ve seen Otto Porter‘s confidence skyrocket since Pierce arrived to the nation’s capital. I always had Porter’s back, seeing the talent that Washington fell in love with during the 2013 NBA Draft, but even I had some doubts after seeing how much he struggled with his confidence, or lack thereof, in his rookie season. Make no mistake about it; without Paul Pierce in that locker room, Otto Porter would still be struggling.

We’ve seen Bradley Beal take his game to the next level in the playoffs, accepting his role on the team and realizing how much he means to Washington’s success. In the first round against the Raptors, we saw Beal, a quiet, religious 21-year-old, play with an angry demeanor. That’s Paul Pierce.

Regardless of the outcome of the series, the Wizards have grown tremendously this season and they wouldn’t have without Paul Pierce’s Paul Pierceness. It would be disrespectful to call what Pierce brings to the Wizards “veteran leadership” because it’s been much more than that.

So, when Paul Pierce hits a bank shot game-winner, don’t be surprised. He’s been doing this for 17-years and he’s going to continue doing it in a red-white-blue uniform. Last night’s game-winner was much more than just a game-winner. It was a microcosm of what the Wizards have become.