John Wall hit the game-winning three pointer with 57.7 seconds left and finished with 16 points and six rebounds as the Washington Wizards edged the Boston Celtics, 85-83, at the Verizon Center on Saturday night.
The loss snapped Boston's five-game winning streak and marked the third loss of the month for the Celtics.
Kevin Garnett (17 points, four rebounds) made a layup with 40 seconds remaining to bring the Celtics (33-10) within one, 84-83. Rajon Rondo (13 points, nine assists) stole the ball from Wall with 18 seconds left, giving the green one final chance to win.
Paul Pierce (12 points, 8 rebounds) missed a 17-foot fade-away jumper with one second remaining. Wall got the rebound, and Garnett fouled him with less than a second remaining.
Wall made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. Boston grabbed the rebound and tried to call a timeout, but was too late.
Ray Allen scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds for Boston. Semih Erden, who was starting in place of injured Celtics starting center Shaquille O'Neal, finished with six points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes. Glen Davis added nine points and six rebounds off the bench for the Celtics.
Rashard Lewis made 7-of-13 shots and scored a game-high 18 points and collected 11 rebounds for Washington (13-29). JaVale McGee had 16 points and six rebounds and Andre Blatche added 11 points and five boards in the win.
Boston shot 43% from the field (34-for-79) and 26.7% from long distance (4-of-15 3PT) while Washington connected on 33-of-77 field goals (42.9%) but only 1-of-9 three pointers (11.1%).
The Celtics racked up 40 rebounds, 20 assists, seven steals, three blocks and had ten turnovers. The Wizards finished with 44 rebounds, 14 assists, two steals, six blocks and 12 turnovers.
Boston jumped out to a 35-20 lead after the first quarter, but was outscored 65-48 in the final three quarter. The Celtics were held to 16 points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.
Cleveland comes to town in the Celtics' next game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST (TV/Radio: CSNNE, FSOH/WEEI).
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