Poised to let another win slip, Jayson Tatum powers Celtics past Bradley Beal, Washington
Beal #Beal
With his close friend from St. Louis, Bradley Beal, on the verge of pummeling the Celtics once again, Jayson Tatum saved his team before it was too late. Tatum scored 6 points in the final 43.1 seconds to propel Boston to a 111-110 escape against the Wizards at TD Garden on Sunday night.
Beal finished with 46 points, but Tatum secured bragging rights by answering with 31 and the win.
The Wizards took a 106-98 lead on a Russell Westbrook 3-pointer with 2:56 left before the Celtics charged back. Javonte Green scored on a runner, Semi Ojeleye drilled a 3-pointer, and Tatum converted a fadeaway, pulling the Celtics within 106-105 with 1:33 left.
But Robin Lopez answered with a hook shot, and then after Walker missed a layup, Beal attacked for a layup inside, making it 110-105 with 46.9 seconds to play.
After a timeout, Tatum attacked for a quick layup. Russell Westbrook missed a 3-pointer from the left corner, giving Boston possession with 19.7 seconds left. Tatum attacked for another layup, and then the Celtics trapped Beal on the inbounds pass before he slipped and fell out of bounds with 12.4 seconds left.
Tatum inbounded the ball and got it back on a post-up before converting another acrobatic layup with 4.7 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Beal was trapped in the right corner by Tatum and Ojeleye, firing up a 20-footer that rimmed out at the buzzer.
Observations from the game:
⋅ The Celtics caught a break after Beal slipped out of bounds. It appeared to be a pretty obvious call, but the officials reviewed it anyway. Boston was out of timeouts, so this gave Brad Stevens a chance to draw up a play.
⋅ Washington stretched its lead to 6 points before the Celtics pushed back behind the Kemba Walker/Daniel Theis combo. On four out of five possessions, Walker escaped double teams and assisted on Theis baskets, including three consecutive mid-range jumpers. The two have developed a real chemistry since Walker’s return.
⋅ The Wizards started the game 0 for 8 from the field with four turnovers, but the Celtics allowed them to linger by piling up fouls and sending them to the free-throw line time and again. Washington attempted 17 foul shots in the opening quarter, a first-quarter high in the NBA this season, according to NBC Sports Boston. The only good news for the shorthanded Celtics was that their 10 first-quarter fouls were spaced out, with no player committing more than two.
The Celtics cleaned up this issue in the second quarter, when the Wizards never entered the penalty.
⋅ Javonte Green started in place of Jaylen Brown, whose left knee kept him out for the night. Green had his contract for the rest of this season fully guaranteed last week, and Stevens was probably seeking a defensive-minded backcourt that could have a chance at slowing down Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer.
That didn’t happen, but Green scored on a couple of nice drives, and flashed his athleticism when he soared to snag a pass that was headed out of bounds before firing the ball to Daniel Theis for an open 3-pointer.
⋅ Walker once again had a real bounce in his step, and his return to normalcy has been the Celtics’ most encouraging development in recent weeks. He is drawing fouls, he looks comfortable taking 3-pointers, and he’s getting into good rhythm feeding Boston’s big men on pick-and-rolls. He had one pretty dish to Robert Williams in the first quarter that ended with an easy two-handed slam.
⋅ Tatum appeared to snap out of his mini funk with a strong first half. He found his spots on offense and didn’t force shots as much as he has recently. He also provided the biggest highlight in a first half that mostly lacked them.
With 7:28 left in the second quarter, Tatum blew past Washington’s Rui Hachimura and threw down a violent one-handed dunk over Wizards center Robin Lopez. Before he jogged back downcourt, he tapped Beal — his close friend from St. Louis — on the rear end, as if to say, ‘Did you see that one?’
⋅ Wizards forward Davis Bertans made his first four 3-pointers in the first half to keep Washington within reach, but the rest of the team combined to make just 13 of 37 shots before the break.
⋅ The Celtics gathered offensive rebounds on 10 of their 27 missed shots in the first half, helping them to a 16-4 edge in second-chance points. The Wizards played on Saturday night and the Celtics did not, and there were moments when it was clear which team had more bounce in its step.
⋅ The Celtics took a 68-57 lead on a Walker 3-pointer with 8:43 left in the third quarter, but instead of creating separation, Boston sunk into a stretch of sloppy play, with the Wizards using a 12-2 run to stay close. It could have been worse, but Isaac Bonga, a 41 percent 3-point shooter, missed four wide open attempts.
Beal led the charge and went to the bench with three minutes left and his team trailing 70-67, but Boston added just one point to its lead the rest of the quarter.