NBA 2018-19: 3 talking points from Boston Celtics' overtime win over Washington Wizards
When Boston found themselves in trouble on the road in Washington in an overtime thriller, Kyrie Irving came to their rescue. After an unexpectedly long period of time, he finally looked like the player who shot the go-ahead three-pointer from the right wing during the 2016 Finals to get LeBron James his 3rd ring.
The Boston Celtics clinched a hard-fought 130-125 victory over the Washington Wizards in a game that saw the DC crowd rooting for Irving and the Celts more than they cheered for their home team.
Boston look like they are finding their feet in the East lately, having won 8 out their last 10 games. As a result of this win (which was their 7th consecutive), they have improved to 17-10 (0.630) to take the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference leaderboard.
The Wizards find themselves in a bit of a slump as they have now lost three games in quick succession, and have surrendered five of their previous 10 matchups. They slipped to an abysmal 10th spot in the East and currently, host a quite-unlike-Wizards 11-17 record.
Let's look at some key takeaways from this nail-biter down in Washington D.C.
#1 Kyrie Irving scores a game-high 38 points and comes up with clutch play down the stretch
Al Horford missed his third straight game due to injured left knee, while Brown and Hayward remained out because of illness when the Celtics visited DC. Both Kyrie and Morris (each played 40 minutes) stepped up big time in a game when their coach needed them to.
Irving scored Boston's last 12 points single-handedly, including two back-to-back clutch threes in the final 40 seconds of overtime.
"We've seen Kyrie do that on multiple occasions," said Marcus Smart, "But to see it again in person - every day we see that is something that is jaw-dropping for us."
With his team serenaded by "Let's go, Celtics!" chants on the road, Irving even got his own "MVP!" chorus later as he helped his understaffed team triumph under pressure. He finished with 38 points and seven assists, while one-half of the Morris twins in Green contributed 27 points and nine rebounds on the night.