Celtics outlast the Wizards 130-125 in OT

It was a story of Marcuses in DC this evening, as both Morris and Smart made big plays to pace the Celtics to a 130-125 victory over the Wizards in the Capital. Morris (27-9-2) was big down the stretch getting two big boards and four important points in the dying minutes of regulation for the Celtics. Smart (18-9-3) gave consistent effort to pull the Celtics back into the contest after they were down by 11 in the third quarter. Kyrie Irving had the daggers at the end of OT, hitting two big threes and free throws to seal the game.

The close game came down to final possessions in regulation, as Kyrie Irving found Tatum for a flush dunk with 13.9 remaining in the game. The Celtics intentionally fouled Bradley Beal in a 113-110 game to maintain the lead. Disaster struck when Beal missed the final free throw and got his own miss to tie the game at 113-113. Irving missed the ensuing shot at the buzzer and the game went to extra time.

Smart found Terry Rozier in the corner who hit a big three at just under four minutes to go in OT to give the Celtics their first points of OT and on the ensuing offensive possession Smart came down with a big offensive board and put back. John Wall went down after getting a big bucket over Irving and he exited the game with 2:02 remaining in the extra period.

He would re-enter the game at 1:17. Kelly Oubre hit a three to give the Wizards a one point lead with 1:33 to go before Kyrie Irving got to the line to give the Celtics a one point lead on the ensuing possesion. Markieff Morris got two points on an ensuing offensive board. Kyrie Irving hit a big 3 to push the Celtics lead to 2 before wall tied the game again. Irving hit another bit three to put the game out of reach for the Wizards.

Kyrie Irving finished the game with 38-7-3. It was a big game for former friend and frequent foe Jeff Green who finished the evening with 22-10-2. Wall erupted at the end of regulation and OT and finished with 34-13-7.

I was a rough offensive first half for the Celtics, who were only 19-50 (38%) from the field and 4-20 (20%) from downtown. Free throws were a big difference for the Wizards in the first half, as the Wizards got the line a whopping 16 times compared to the Celtics four.

In the third quarter, the Wizards would push their lead to 11 before the Celtics went on a massive run 19-5 fueled by the activity of Marcus Smart and seven turnovers to retake the lead just before the halfway mark of the quarter.

The back and forth match up continued into the final frame, where the Wizards retook the lead with 9:37 remaining in the game. The Celtics and Wizards traded punches down the stretch and it resulted in a tie 101-101 game at just under three minutes to go in the game. Kyrie Irving sandwiched big plays around a time out following up a big bucket on a Marcus Smart drag screen with a drawn foul on John Wall after a Beal deep connection and Morris bucket.

Celtics rookie Robert Wiliams was again effective in the game, with 6-6-2 in just 14 minutes.

The Celtics will travel home to face the Hawks on Friday, 12/14 at 7pm.