NBA: Bradley Beal knocks down Celtics hospital in dramatic overtime thriller

After double overtime, the Washington Wizards (39-30) secured an important 125:124 victory in the fight for the homecourt places in the East. However, against Boston Celtics (46-22), which were plagued by injuries, they only partially fulfilled their role as favourites.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens had to mess up his rotation before the game against the Wizards. Daniel Theis’ season ended in the last match against the Pacers, Marcus Smart is threatening similar things and with Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford they were joined by short-term stoppages.

However, the remaining Celtics didn’t show any sign of themselves and made an excellent start to the game. Boston let the ball run constantly, dividing the responsibility evenly and after only five minutes played, each of the five Celtics starters had scored at least once. Marcus Morris led Celtics with 10 points in the opening quarter and Shane Larkin (7 points) boosted Celtics’ lead from the bank to 37:23 with much energy.

In the second quarter, however, the Wizard’s seemingly sleepy defense showed a different face and allowed for far fewer open throws from the perimeter. Boston was mostly content with middle distance throws and had hardly any success. In the last three minutes before half-time Markieff Morris strapped the sluggish Wizards-Offense on his back, ran hot with 9 points and shortened the gap to 52:59.

After the first half, however, there was hardly anything left of the momentum of the first quarter in the offensive. The Celtics seemed more and more unimaginative and found no answer to the previously inconspicuous Bradley Beal at the other end of the court. The new all-star scored 16 points and Washington regained the lead ahead of the final quarter – 81:80.

In the last quarter, the Wizards offensive faltered. Only two out of ten three-way attempts hit their target and meanwhile Marcus Morris caught another hot phase and put his team back in front. Beal shortened again and again for the wizards – but Boston remained consistently ahead and led with five seconds to play 106:103. After an inattention on the defensive Otto Porter Jr. But due to the passing of the season, the ball fitted out to Jodie Meeks, who saved Washington with a threesome into extra time.

The overtime ended with a wild closing phase. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Porter was fouled during the layup attempt and showed no nerves on the line. Afterwards, the hosts made an unnecessary loss of the ball and looked like the sure losers with two points behind and no possession of the ball – but then the wizards returned the favor with their own loss of the ball. Tatum then hit the ball and foul, but rejected the free-throw to win.

Beal brought the wizards a six-point lead in the second extra time, but Boston fought back again and had another chance to win just before the final whistle with Tatum – but his threesome missed the finish. Final score: 125:124 Wizards.

Bradley Beal led his team not only with 47 minutes played, but also with 34 points (14/27 FG) was top scorer of the match. In addition he delivered 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Markieff Morris supported Morris with 20 points, Porter scored 18. Ian Mahinmi showed a strong performance in 25 minutes from the bank and was rewarded with a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds).

Marcus Morris won with 31 points (Season-High) the duel within the twins and showed a convincing performance. Terry Rozier scored 21 points and 9 rebounds, unlucky Tatum collected 19 points. Greg Monroe delivered 10 rebounds with 16 points from the bench and an almost perfect throwing performance (8/9 FG), but was no longer a factor in the final phase of the game.

Boston Celtics (46-22) vs. Washington Wizards (39-30)124:125 2OT (BOXSCORE)

One of the main reasons for the Boston lead in the first half was the strong work on the boards. Especially Monroe and Aron Baynes were hard to get a grip from the wizards and gave their team several second chances. 53 percent of the Boston halfcourt sessions ended in an offensive rebound.

In the second half, however, the tide turned and the rebound advantages changed to the wizards. Mahinmi received special praise for his work. The backup center was much better off than his colleague Marcin Gortat and with 6 offensive rebounds, it was a big cause of concern under the Celtics basket.

Bradley Beal (Wizards):”That was incredibly important. Despite all the injuries, Celtics have delivered a very strong performance – but if we want to reach a homecourt court, we just have to win games like this.”

Bradley Beal. After an outstanding third quarter Beal held his wizards also in the fourth quarter. During the overtime, his nerves were fluttering – in addition to his scoring, he also did a very good job of leading the offensive of his team.

Aron Baynes. The Australian played a good first half, but then he lost a lot of weight. Offensively he could hardly set accents and also defensively he was in the end no longer a decisive factor. Bayne’s minutes made little sense, especially in times when Celtics were very unimaginative.

With the thin staff in the Celtics frontcourt, one might have suspected that Brad Stevens would increasingly send smaller lineups onto the floor – but Stevens decided for the complete opposite and with Monroe or Baynes, he always left a classic center on the court. The Boston-Big-Men even played together for a few minutes and caused the guests some problems with their physical condition.