What an awesome moment this must have been for Jae Crowder and what a horrible moment is must have been for John Wall.
With 4.3 seconds left and the Wizards and Celtics tied at 115 apiece, Crowder loses Kelly Oubre, receives a nice pass from Marcus Smart over the top, and easily lays the ball in to take a two-point lead because there’s no one covering the weak side.
https://media.giphy.com/media/l49FvoZYljB9bAl68/giphy.gif
The Wizards had no timeouts remaining, but they did have Wall, one of the fastest players in the league. Wall raced towards the basket, bursting ahead of the two defenders hopelessly trying to keep up with him. Unfortunately, even though Wall gets a terrific look at the basket, he can’t sink the tying layup.
https://media.giphy.com/media/xTcnSQsuuuQgmBFm1y/giphy.gif
Crowder must have felt even further vindicated by his game-winning layup considering what Randy Wittman allegedly said to him earlier in the game.
Crowder said he's never had a coach say something to him before. Said Wittman was calling him soft, swearing.
— Todd Dybas (@Todd_Dybas) January 17, 2016
If Wittman did indeed do that, it’s completely inexcusable. Talking trash is one thing, but swearing at a player is an entirely different matter. Wittman probably won’t be disciplined, but he got his comeuppance anyways in the form of Crowder’s game-winner.
