WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: Head coach Randy Wittman of the Washington Wizards at the post game press conference after a victory in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Toronto Raptors during the 2015 NBA Playoffs on April 24, 2015 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Paul Pierce was a key contributor to the Wizards’ sweep of Toronto, both mentally and with his physical presence on the court, as has been outlined a number of times here.

The reason for his dominance in the series, at least in part, was the matchup problem he presented the Raptors in lining up as stretch four, something he hadn’t done in any of the two teams’ previous games in the regular season.

To say this didn’t go unnoticed by reporters, and bloggers, covering the team would be an understatement. Judging from their reaction on Twitter when Randy Wittman admitted — after the Wizards had taken a 2-0 series edge — that, to a degree, he had been holding back his best lineup in the regular season, it’s safe to say those reporters felt had.

Whether they were or weren’t has no bearing. Point is, Wittman finally went with the lineup his critics had been saying all along was his best, and the Wizards swept — a win-win. Not to be confused, Pierce as a four certainly isn’t the only the change to propel the Wizards to the second round (see also … sudden discovery of the three-point shot).

While Wittman may be laughing heartily on the inside, when he was asked Wednesday by Chad Dukes if he took any sick thrill in the whole thing, only the faintest of pleasure could be detected in his voice.

“No,” the Wizards coach chuckled. “Hey, I’m not gonna lie and say when I was younger, or when I first got into it you didn’t feel that. Listen, we could go 82-0 and somebody’s gonna bitch about what kind of job you do. I don’t worry about that anymore at this stage of my career, and where I’m at.

“You just gotta be comfortable with what you’re doing. And as I stated all along, we went through a tough stretch. I thought at the end of the year we left some games out there. Our players thought that. But at the end of every year, you look back on your season: ‘God, we let that game get away.’

“But I also wanted them to realize that we’ve won more games than we ever had in 39 years. And that’s an accomplishment, too. There’s a fine line. Hey, listen, I don’t worry about it, because half those guys — or even, I’ll go three-quarters — don’t know what the heck they’re talking about anyway.”

For those wondering if they’d been trolled by Wittman, pay attention to this response to a question about whether he had purposefully tried to catch Toronto off guard with Pierce as a stretch four. Specifically, take notice of the portion of Wittman’s response in which he says sometimes you have to “bite your tongue and not go for a win” in the interest of minutes.

“Well, I mean, it was tough during the regular year,” he said. “I think it really worked well against Toronto. And in the three games we played them in the regular season, we weren’t able to play Paul at four any of that stretch. The problem was during the regular season, I wanted to try to keep Paul at 25, 26 minutes a night just to make sure he was fresh getting to this point of the year in the playoffs.

“To be able to play him at 3 and 4 was going to be a stretch to get those minutes where I wanted to keep him. He played some 4 during the course of the year. I don’t have to worry about minutes, now. We don’t have back-to-back games. I can get him up into the thirties now and not worry about it. But during the regular season, I was making sure that, you know, as hard as it is, to sometimes bite your tongue and not go for a win because of minutes. But I wanted him fresh, and I think it’s worked out pretty good.”

If taken at face value, most Wizards fans would probably take a few missed regular season opportunities in exchange for their team’s prolonged existence in the NBA Playoffs.

Follow @ChrisLingebach and @1067TheFanDC.