The Celtics were down 58-45 at halftime due to a slow start. That has been a common theme for this team all year. They start off slow and get them selves into a hole. The rest of the game they exhaust themselves digging back into contention.
At the end of the third quarter, Washington was up 92-76 and was ready to cruise through the next 12 minutes en route to victory. But the Celtics, who were down 16 at that time, had different plans. They went on to outscore the Wizards 34-18 in the 4th quarter.
Evan Turner sent the game to overtime on a late three point shot with about 1 second left on the clock. Up until then the Celtics had struggled to score a game tying or winning basket.
After the first overtime the teams still could not resolve their battle. They were all tied at 121 and momentum seemed to be on the Celtics side.
But as the 2nd overtime began John Wall took over. He dominated by getting to the hoop for an
and-1 lay in, hitting jump shots, and penetrating the Celtic's Defense.
With the Celtics down by 1 with 10 seconds left they inbounded the ball to Evan Turner. He was driving the lane with a full head of steam, when Bradley Beal used the Wizard's last foul to give. Discombobulated, the Celtics ran the same isolation for Turner again. With 4 seconds left he drove to the elbow, stopped, and popped. His shot clanked off the rim and fell back down with the Celtics' hopes of winning.
Washington wound up winning 133-132.
John Wall finished off a 26 point, 17 assist, and 7 rebound night with a monstrous performance in overtime. When it comes down the stretch, Wall is just simply unstoppable. The Celtics had both Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart, two of the best defensive guards in the league on him, and he still found a way to score the ball.
Paul Pierce also played great down the stretch for the Wizards and finished with a season high 28 points and also grabbed 7 rebounds.
For the Celtics, it was their bench tonight. The bench outscored the starters 82-50. The 82 points was the highest for the Celtics in their storied history. Every bench player besides Marcus Thornton scored in double digits. As a whole, Boston finished with 6 players scoring in double digits.
Boston's main force was led by Jeff Green. He finished with 28 points, well over his season average of 19.3 PPG. Green has been a beast all year for the Celtics squad.
As a whole, it was the Celtics poor execution late that lost them another close game. It seems Brad Stevens can not draw up a successful play in late game situations. Tonight, the Celtics once again lacked a second option once the play had broken down. This forces bad shot selection and ultimately costed them late once again.
On the bright side the Celtics fought hard with one of the NBA's premier teams in Washington. With their loss the Celtics now fall to 7-12, while Washington improved to 14-6.
After the game John Wall had an emotional interview and for good reason. Yesterday he lost his friend Miyah Telemaque-Nelson. She passed away from cancer at only 6 years old, and that was all Wall needed to fuel him for a memorable night.
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