POST GAME WASHINGTON - AWAY - SERIES 2 - GAME 6

John Wall lifts Wizards over Celtics with dramatic 3 to force Game 7, takes shot at Celtics postgame

WEEI

By Mike Petraglia

So close. But still so far.

John Wall’s rainbow from 26 feet over Avery Bradley fell through the basket with 3.5 seconds left to give the Wizards a 92-91 win over the stunned Celtics in Game 6 Friday night at the Verizon Center.

The prayer of a three sets up a Game 7 Monday night at TD Garden as the Wizards become the first home team to win an elimination on their home court in 11 tries this postseason.

Isaiah Thomas’ desperation three at the buzzer clanged off the rim to set up the second Game 7 of these NBA playoffs.

Al Horford’s bad angle bank shot with 7.7 seconds broke a tie and appeared to have sent the Celtics to the Eastern finals against LeBron for the first time since 2012. But instead, a winner-take-all Game 7 will decide matters in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Celtics came dressed to kill in all black wardrobes on their way to the locker room, something not unnoticed by Wall, as he spoke to ESPN’s Lisa Salters moments after the game-winning shot.

“I ain’t going home. Don’t come to my city, wearing all black, talking about a funeral,” Wall said. “We worked too hard for this. All we ask for is a Game 7, 50-50.”

Despite shooting just 4-for-17 in the first quarter and getting manhandled in the paint, the Celtics were able to stay close, trailing just 22-17 heading into the second quarter. The Wizards outscored the Celtics

Down 26-19 in the second quarter, the Celtics scored the next seven points, capped by an Avery Bradley three.

(Click here for a complete box score of Game 6)

The Celtics caught another big break when Wizards big man Marcin Gortat picked up his third personal foul with 7:27 left in the first half.

With Isaiah Thomas again on Bradley Beal, the Wizards were more effective taking advantage of that matchup, scoring 14 points in the first half. But Beal disappeared for the final five minutes of the first half.

Foul trouble caught up with the Celtics as well in the first half as Kelly Olynyk picked up his third with 4:47 left in the half. The three-point play was part of an 11-2 run from the Wizards that put them ahead 39-30.

Wednesday night, the Celtics took full advantage of the distribution from Isaiah Thomas, hitting wide-open threes and midrange shots. That was not the case early in Game 6. The Celtics missed 13 of of their first 16 shots from beyond the arc before Isaiah Thomas’ three with three minutes left in the second quarter.

That three sparked a huge 10-0 run that tied the game, 40-40, in the final minute of the first half. Jaylen Brown’s offensive rebounding was a difference-maker. His offensive rebound with 45 second left led to a Crowder layup that tied the game. Then Marcus Smart found Avery Bradley with a perfect pass leading to an alley-oop dunk with seven seconds left, giving the Celtics the 42-41 halftime lead, their first lead since 2-0 to open the game.

The Celtics shot just 35 percent in the first half but allowed just three points in transition. The other huge factor in the first half was Avery Bradley’s defense on John Wall, holding the Wizards point guard to just 1-for-9 from the field.

While the Celtics were uncharacteristically cold from 3-point range, the Wizards were abysmal from beyond the arc, missing 13 of their first 14 attempts. They missed 14 straight attempts and went without a field goal for a seven minute span from the second quarter to the third as the Celtics went on an 18-3 run to take a 48-43 lead.

The Celtics did a solid job of playing with the lead for the remainder of the quarter, maintain a 3-5 point lead most of the way and taking a 69-66 lead into the final quarter.

With John Wall resting on the bench to start the fourth quarter, Bradley Beal converted two straight baskets, including a driving layup with 9:46 left to give Washington its first lead since the first half at 70-69. But Avery Bradley hit his fourth three in five attempts to give Boston lead again. Beal came back with his third driving layup to tie the game.

Isaiah Thomas hit a fadeaway midrange jumper with 2:08 to give Boston an 84-82 lead. His three with 1:34 left put the Celtics up, 87-82.  After Marcus Smart took a charge on John Wall, Thomas was trapped and turned the ball over, leading to a transition three from Beal with 1:09 left. John Wall hit two free throws with 41.2 seconds left to tie the game at 87.

Bradley came back with a jumper out of a Stevens timeout for the lead with 39 seconds left, only to have Beal answer for an 89-89 tie. The Celtics called a timeout with 14.1 seconds left to set up the final possession of regulation.

Horford hit his amazing shot before Wall outdid him for the win.
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John Wall, Wizards Force Game 7 With Thrilling Win Vs. C’s

NESN

by Cameron McDonough on Fri, May 12, 2017 at 10:49PM

The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards are on to Game 7. The C’s and Wizards were locked in a close one for most of the game, thanks in large part to a rough offensive start for both teams. But John Wall’s game-winning 3-pointer gave Washington a 92-91 win in Game 6 of the second-round NBA playoff series at Verizon Center.

So much for showing up to the arena in all-black, Celtics. The win means there will be a Game 7 between the two teams Monday night at TD Garden to decide the Cleveland Cavaliers’ opponent in the Eastern Conference finals. Bradley Beal led all scorers with 33 points, while teammate John Wall finished with 26 points and eight assists after only scoring three points in the first half. Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas paced the Celtics with 27 points each. Al Horford (20 points, six rebounds) and Jae Crowder (10 points, seven rebounds, eight assists) also had big games for the C’s. Here’s how it all went down.

STARTING FIVE Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson, Al Horford

SLOPPY START To say it was an ugly start for the Celtics would be an understatement. However, they still only were down 22-17 after the opening frame. Boston only made four of the 17 shots it took for an abysmal 23.5 shooting percentage, and Bradley’s layup with 5:20 remaining was its final made basket of the first quarter. It also committed four turnovers. Washington also had four turnovers, but it started to find its rhythm on offense late and upped its shooting percentage to 43.5. The foul line kept the Celtics close during the opening 12 minutes, as they went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe, while the Wizards only went 1-for-4. Thomas led all scorers with seven points, while Beal paced Washington with six points.

GAME OF RUNS With 7:13 remaining in the second, it appeared as though the Celtics were starting to find their groove a bit. They had erased a five-point deficit, and they tied the game at 26-26 on a Bradley 3-pointer and at 28-28 on a Horford bucket. But that quickly ended, as they only made one basket during a 12-2 Washington run, which extended the Wizards’ lead to 40-30. Thomas stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer at the 3:02 mark, and that triggered a 10-0 run for the C’s, who came right back and tied the game 40-40 on a Crowder layup with 44 seconds left before the break. Boston went on to lead 42-41 at halftime. Bradley (13 points, four steals), Horford (11 points, four rebounds) and Thomas (10 points) led the way offensively for the Celtics. Beal led all scorers with 14 points, but Wall only had three points on one made field goal in the first half. Boston’s shooting percentage improved a bit to 35 percent, while Washington remained at almost the same mark at 43.6 percent.

OFFENSE NO LONGER OFFENSIVE The Celtics outscored the Wizards 27-25 in the third quarter, upping their lead to 69-66 heading into the final frame. It still wasn’t a piece of art on offense by any stretch, but it was an improvement from the first half. Bradley continued his big game with nine more points in the frame to get to 22 points overall, and Horford (18 points) and Thomas (17 points) weren’t too far behind. Wall finally came to life on offense, which was good news for the home squad. He scored 13 points in the third to get to 16 points overall, while Beal continued to lead the team with 20 points.

CLOSING TIME The two teams remained locked in a close one for most of the final quarter, which set up an exciting final three minutes. Thomas momentarily took the game over when it was tied 82-82 with five straight points, which gave Boston an 87-82 advantage with 1:34 remaining. But Beal continued his huge game with a 3-pointer of his own, and Wall made two clutch free throws to make it 87-87 with 41 seconds left. The back-and-forth continued when Bradley made a jumper out of a timeout, but Beal responded with a bucket to make it 89-89. The Celtics then took a timeout with 14.1 seconds left to try and draw up the potential game-winning play. And that play was a bank-shot jumper from Horford. But Wall hit a clutch 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left, and it was the game-winner after Thomas’ final shot didn’t drop.

PLAY OF THE GAME Was there any doubt? JOHN. WALL.

DAGGER. #WizCeltics #DCFamily pic.twitter.com/i2j3v7ZYz0 — Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) May 13, 2017 UP

NEXT The Celtics and Wizards will face off in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night at TD Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.


112288

Just finished watching the game off my DVR - had to go to a play during game time. So close and so well played - except so few points from our bench. Our starters were super. Kudos again to Avery. Wow has he stepped up.

we had a chance to close them out late, up by 5 with 2 minutes or less to geo. IT gets trapped and throws the ball out wildly ( I guess looking for a foul or something). BAD!

we had 'em there, we know who they are...we left them off the hook. To quote Denny Green.

I hope we can hold the home court one more game, but Wall is correct it IS 50-50 now.

Great game to watch; tough game to lose.

Monday night for a shot at the finals! Either way, the rebuild is still in full, positive mode.

I never felt as though IT was in control all night. Those turnovers came when he was forcing things, or trying to go too fast for the rest of his body and hands! This was key last night. I will certainly not lay all of this on him as he came up big in the 4th quarter again and hit some big shots. I just was uncomfortable with his game overall.

Kelly has got to get better control of himself, He runs around trying to make crazy plays and is so awkward that he gets himself into foul trouble. I want the Kelly Olynk who had those monster games against Chicago and at the end of the season.

Brown missed all his outside shots, but he was pretty good on defense. Every shot was wide open, rookie jitters?????

Rozier struggled last night for some reason. We need him to continue rebounding and shooting to help us over the top.

I am just hoping this is not the "one that got away" and set us up for a home loss against these guys. Beal and Wall are feeling pretty good about themselves right now as well they should. I just knew, when the chips were down, Wall would come through for them.

Here's hoping that Monday night is a blowout, beat the ever loving daylights out of them and get this over with. The only thing is..............LeBron is rested and waiting for one of these two teams, are we ready for that?????

Rosalie

we had em and we gave it away,IT with one of the biggest blunders in Celtics history!!!

My My My........I just got a phone call from my nephew and he is sending me two tickets to Monday's game!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been to a playoff game since the Pierce Garnett first round series. Long time ago.

So....If they lose, you may not hear from me again as I will blame myself for being a jinx!!!! Here's hoping i am writing a post after I get home from a big win!!!!!!

Rosalie

RosalieTCeltics wrote:My My My........I just got a phone call from my nephew and he is sending me two tickets to Monday's game!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been to a playoff game since the Pierce Garnett first round series.  Long time ago.  

So....If they lose, you may not hear from me again as I will blame myself for being a jinx!!!!  Here's hoping i am writing a post after I get home from a big win!!!!!!

Rosalie

What a great nephew, he really knows what Auntie likes!!

Maybe, too, The Celtics should consider not tempting karma to bite them in the butt.  Skip showing up to the game with everyone dressed in black as they did for game 6.  Just an extra little kicker for that part of the game played between each team's ears.

Rosalie,

I think you will be the team's top good luck charm.  Enjoy the game!

gyso is right, you have a great nephew.

Regards

Congratulations, Rosalie. How I envy you. What a great nephew you have!

Berlin-T

The Celts played well enough to win game 6.

In the span of 2 minutes they nanaged to snatch defeat out of the mouth of victory.  

Our bench was hideous and if they were remotely productive we would have won going away.  But truth be told this game was lost because of bad decisions by IT.

There was the ill advised 3 point heat check attempt followed by the brain fart pass to nowhere.  He should have called a timeout.

He got swallowed up and was barely visible.  IT is too short to pass over the trap and he is not long enough to pass around it.

I was very impressed with the play of Avery Bradley .  I do not recall back to back games in the playoffs where he played this well.

AH is a baller.  Big time player.  He still needs a sidekick.

We need KO to take his share of open shots.  JB missed 2 three point attempts and then missed his 3rd attempt when KO passed him the ball.  That shot was his (KO) to take.  It symbolizes how tentative he is as a basketball player.

My last comment is about the wear all black clown show.  It was an embarrassment to Celtics tradition.  

dboss