VIDEO: Pierce hits clutch 3 and calls 'series' but Horford responds with game-winner
Somehow, the Atlanta Hawks haven't received the message yet. Luckily, Al Horford doesn't give a damn.
The Hawks inexplicably left Paul Pierce open for multiple clutch triples in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's Game 5 against the Washington Wizards, and it looked as if Pierce had sunk them for a second time in this series.
With eight seconds left on the clock, Pierce canned a corner triple - because that's why he's here - giving Washington an 81-80 lead and a likely 3-2 hold on the series.
It was Pierce's second open triple of the fourth quarter after a quiet opening three frames, an inexcusable paucity of defensive awareness from the Hawks.
It also allowed Pierce to one-up his banked-in Game 3 winner, during which he called "Game." After the go-ahead triple, Pierce went a step further, calling an end to the best-of-seven a little prematurely.
But eight seconds is a lot of time, and Horford was an absolute beast on Wednesday, unwilling to let John Wall's return and further Pierce heroics swing the series for good.
The Hawks ran a play for Dennis Schroder, of all people, and Wall got a piece of it for a block. Horford bull-rushed the paint, wrestled the rebound away from Nene, and sunk the put-back for the 82-81 lead, the victory and a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference semifinal.
Watch this rebounding effort from Horford again:
That's an incredible piece of timing and strength, and the ability to get the ball back up for a look at the rim is impressive. It was all par for the course for Horford in Game 5, as the likely max-contract recipient finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and five blocks while shooting 10-of-18 and hitting a late triple of his own.
Pierce better hope his "series" call was inaccurate.