Wizards outlast Boston in 2 OTs
WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal scored 36 points, Kyle Kuzma added 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and the Washington Wizards outlasted the Boston Celtics 115-112 in two overtimes Saturday.
Montrezl Harrell added 20 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out in the second overtime for Washington, which improved to 5-1 with its second victory over Boston in three games.
Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points and sank the final Washington basket as the Wizards overcame 36.5% shooting (38 of 104) for their second overtime win of the season.
Jaylen Brown had 34 points for the Celtics, who lost for the second time in three overtime games this season to drop to 2-4.
Jayson Tatum added 27 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for Boston, but made just 10 of his 32 shots. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts on a night the Celtics shot just 2 of 25 beyond the arc as a team.
The night may have yet gone Boston’s way without a pivotal moment with 1:14 remaining in the second overtime.
Officials originally called a foul on Deni Avdija, but ruled his play a clean block of Tatum’s shot following video review.
Beal hit a runner high off the glass off the ensuing possession, Tatum missed a difficult runner on the other end, and then Dinwiddie got his pull-up to fall to make it 115-112 with 20 seconds left in the second extra period.
After the teams traded turnovers, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stripped Brown trying to attempt a tying 3-pointer.
Notes: Celtics Payton Pritchard made Boston’s first 3 with 9:05 left to close it to 83-82 … G Romeo Langford (calf tightness, non-COVID illness) returned after three games out. … G Marcus Smart (non-COVID illness) did not travel.
Wizards C Daniel Gafford (thigh bruise) missed a second game in a move designed to “give him another day, day-and-a-half to get his strength back,” said coach Wes Unseld Jr. … Kuzma hit a free throw for his 10th point with 8:05 left in the third quarter to seal his double-double.
Harrell hit a high-arching, rainbow-shaped 3-pointer from 3 feet behind the midcourt stripe that banked in to give the Wizards a 53-47 lead at the halftime buzzer. It was Harrell’s first 3 since March 2019.
Kanter’s sneakers speak again:
Celtics C Enes Kanter wore sneakers adorned with messages asking for the 2022 Winter Olympics to be moved from China. They read “No Rights, No Games,” “Move the Games” and “No Beijing 2022,” according to photos from a tweet he posted earlier Saturday.
It was his latest in a series of visual sneaker demonstrations against perceived human rights abuses by the government of Chinese president Xi Jingpin.