Kyrie Irving Drops 28 as Celtics Score OT Win vs. Wizards in John Wall's Absence
The Boston Celtics (40-16) overcame a sluggish close to regulation and held off the Washington Wizards for a 110-104 overtime win at Capital One Arena on Thursday night.
The Celtics appeared headed for an easy victory when they took a 10-point lead with 5:23 remaining in regulation, but they fell silent down the stretch and allowed the Wizards to charge all the way back.
In fact, Washington took a three-point lead with 12.8 seconds remaining to paint the Celtics into a corner.
However, Boston was bailed out when Kyrie Irving was fouled attempting a three-pointer with 9.3 seconds go go, and he proceeded to convert all three freebies to force the extra session.
The Celtics made the most of that gift and sent the Wizards packing as Irving and Jaylen Brown combined to score all 12 of Boston's points in overtime, including Brown's big-time three from the corner to put the visitors up five with 1:43 left:
Irving finished with a game-high 28 points, six assists and five rebounds. Brown added 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
Additionally, Boston received a sizable boost from Marcus Morris, who dropped 15 points to finish in double figures for a career-high 11th straight game, according to Celtics Stats on Twitter.
Boston Sports Journal's Brian Robb noted Morris was especially big after the break, while the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn pinpointed the 28-year-old as one of the NBA's biggest bargains:
Thursday also marked Greg Monroe's Celtics debut after he inked a one-year contract earlier in the day.
Monroe totaled five points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in an encouraging 20 minutes off the bench. The Celtics were also plus-nine with him on the floor, which was the second-best mark among all rotation players behind Jayson Tatum's plus-13.
"He's a big body," Morris said, according to Celtics.com's Taylor Snow. "Even if he's not scoring, he's carving space for other guys to be able to drive. He's well-respected around the league, so that goes a long way. I think he's going to be a great piece for us going forward."
The Wizards (31-24) weren't especially sharp scoring the rock, but Otto Porter Jr.'s 27 points and Tomas Satoransky's 14 allowed them to keep pace despite Bradley Beal's off shooting night.
Beal managed 18 points on 7-of-27 shooting (3-of-9 from three), and he came up empty on a potential game-winning attempt as the fourth-quarter buzzer sounded:
Washington has now lost two in a row after ripping off five straight wins sans John Wall (knee).
The Wizards will look to avoid a third straight loss Saturday when they travel to United Center for a meeting with the Chicago Bulls. Boston's next game will be Friday against the Indiana Pacers before LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town Sunday for a nationally televised tilt on ABC.
