The stakes for the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics were much lower Wednesday than in the postseason series they played in 2017. But the game nonetheless brought the fans at Capital One Arena to their feet and managed to create a playoff atmosphere for one night.
After Bradley Beal converted a thrilling play to force overtime, Kyrie Irving nailed two dagger 3-pointers late and handed the Celtics a 130-125 win over the Wizards.
A Jayson Tatum dunk in the final 15 seconds of regulation put the Celtics up 113-110, which almost spelled doom for Washington. Beal was fouled on the inbounds play, made his first free throw and missed his second off the front of the rim. But he leapt in for his own rebound and made a game-tying layup.
“Throughout the game, they weren’t really crashing from top of the key,” Beal said. “When I missed it just fell right back to me.”
In the final minute of a high-scoring five-minute overtime — as “Let’s Go Celtics” cheers popped up around the crowd — Irving hit a 26-foot three to put Boston up by two. John Wall responded in seconds with a driving layup, but Irving then drained a 31-footer to win it.
He seemed to have no trouble, despite both 3-pointers being closely contested.
“The first one, really, you could not contest a shot as close as he did. (Irving) shot that ball so high,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “Great players make great shots, amazing shots. They live for those moments and he always had a knack for that. But you couldn’t ask for a better contest by John.”
Irving finished with 38 points to lead the Celtics, who won their seventh in a row. The Wizards fell to 11-17 with their third straight loss. They failed to take advantage of a depleted Boston crew missing Gordon Hayward (illness), Jaylen Brown (illness) and Al Horford (knee).
Wall played after missing Monday’s game with a bone spur issue in his left heel. Making up for his 1-point performance Saturday in Cleveland, the point guard scored 34 points, 19 of them during the fourth quarter and overtime, and made 13 assists.
Wall briefly left the game in overtime with a injury following a driving layup, but returned. He later said his right foot was stepped on after he converted a layup. The soreness did not keep the guard off the floor for long.
Beal and Jeff Green scored 22 apiece and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 20 off the bench. Green added 10 rebounds.
Tomas Satoransky wrapped up a tight first quarter by driving the lane and dropping in a layup at the buzzer. His quick play put Washington up 28-24 at the first break. The Wizards steadily built on that in the second period, as a 13-2 advantage in fast break points allowed them to carry a 55-46 lead into halftime.
In the first half of quarter three, Boston ripped off a 10-0 run to take back the lead. A few minutes after the Wizards finally ended that streak, Marcus Morris nailed a 3-pointer, and when his brother Markieff Morris inbounded the ball, Terry Rozier stole his pass. He passed to Irving, got it back and sank his own 3-pointer.
In a span of 10 seconds, a 1-point game became a 7-point deficit for Washington that felt even larger.
The Wizards kept it respectable, but Marcus Morris made a 21-foot fall-away jumper at the buzzer to put Boston up 84-77 after three.
Beal chalked up the third quarter to “careless, lackadaisical” turnovers. But the Wizards were able to recover, at least for a while, from the ugly quarter.
Down seven to start the fourth, Washington opened on an 8-0 run that featured an Oubre dunk and a Markieff Morris trey that pushed the Wizards ahead. A pair of driving layups from Wall later helped Washington keep the Celtics at arm’s length.
The teams traded baskets as time slipped away. With two minutes to play, Beal hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Wizards up by one, but then Marcus Morris scored off his own blocked shot and Irving drew a foul on Wall the next possession. Boston maintained a 3-point lead until Beal’s stunning move to tie it.
“That’s a championship-caliber team over there. They compete they tails off,” Beal said of Boston. “They’re one of the best in the East, if not the best in the East right now. It’s always a battle when we play them. We always get up for the game, they get up just as well. It always goes down to the wire.”
Washington shot 51.1 percent and made 12 3-pointers in the loss.
The Wizards play at Brooklyn Friday night, then come back to host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Capital One on Sunday.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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