Rookie point guard John Wall wowed the Washington crowd in his home debut by leading the Wizards to a thrilling 116-115 overtime victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
In a matchup that featured the top two picks in this year’s draft, Wall nearly recorded a triple-double with 29 points, 13 assists and nine steals to overshadow first-year Philadelphia guard Evan Turner, selected second overall.
Washington’s Cartier Martin took an inbounds pass from Wall and nailed a game-tying three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime.
The winless 76ers (0-4) had a 115-114 lead with 14 seconds left in overtime but Andray Blatche drained two free throws that were enough to give Washington (1-2) their first win of the season as Andre Iguodala missed a shot as time expired.
“It’s a great win for the team,” Wall told reporters after playing through an ankle injury he suffered in a previous game. “I thank the fans for supporting us and helping us come out with a tough win. Tonight we made the bigger plays.”
Philadelphia’s Lou Williams scored a game-high 30 points while Turner had nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
In a close contest throughout, Washington led by as much as 10 in the fourth but the 76ers scored 40 in the final quarter and stormed back to claim a slim advantage.
Elton Brand had 21 points and nine rebounds for Philadelphia while Blatche finished with 23 for the home side.
“Our guys fought so hard,” Philadelphia first-year coach Doug Collins said. “[Martin] threw in an unbelievable shot.”
Washington played a third straight game without guard Gilbert Arenas, who has yet to make his season debut because of an ankle injury.
CELTICS 109, PISTONS 86
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Rajon Rondo had nine points and 17 assists to lead Boston over Detroit.
Rondo, who had a triple-double with 24 assists on Friday against New York, has 67 assists through Boston’s first four games.
Kevin Garnett scored 22 points for Boston, which won easily despite Shaquille O’Neal’s absence because of a bruised knee.
The Celtics hardly missed him against the undersized Pistons, who are off to their first 0-4 start since the 1999-2000 season.
Charlie Villanueva scored 17 points for Detroit, which played without Richard Hamilton, who was out with a sore right foot.
LAKERS 124, GRIZZLIES 105
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored all of his 23 points in the first half to set up Los Angeles’ win over Memphis.
Pau Gasol added 21 points and 13 rebounds for unbeaten Los Angeles, while Bryant fell one minute short of matching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the Lakers’ franchise leader in minutes played.
Rudy Gay scored 30 points for Memphis and Mike Conley had 16 points and eight assists after agreeing to a five-year, US$40 million contract extension earlier in the day.
HAWKS 100, CAVALIERS 88
In Cleveland, Atlanta became the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference by downing Cleveland.
Marvin Williams scored 22 points and Al Horford added 16 and 12 rebounds for Atlanta, which improved to 3-0 on the road and snapped a six-game losing streak in Cleveland.
J.J. Hickson scored a career-high 31 points for the Cavs, who have dropped three straight since knocking off Boston in the season opener.
HEAT 129, TIMBERWOLVES 97
In Miami, the hosts rolled to their fourth straight win by crushing Minnesota.
Dwyane Wade had 26 points, while LeBron James added 20 points and a game-high 12 assists — the most ever by a Heat forward, according to STATS LLC.
Wade made 12 of 17 shots in just 24 minutes for Miami, which has outscored opponents by 22.8 points per game since losing the season-opener in Boston last week.
Kevin Love led Minnesota with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
TRAIL BLAZERS 90, BUCKS 76
In Milwaukee, Portland downed Milwaukee to end its four-game road trip on a winning note.
Leading 47-45 at halftime, Portland capitalized on the Bucks’ poor shooting and porous defense to outscore Milwaukee 26-17 and take a 73-62 lead into the final quarter. It was the first time that the Blazers led going into the final period this season.
Wes Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half while Brandon Roy added 17 points for a Portland team playing its third game in four nights. Corey Maggette led the Bucks with 16 points.
Magic at Knicks, postponed
In New York, the game at Madison Square Garden (MSG) was postponed because of safety concerns after debris fell into the arena during overnight cleaning of asbestos-related materials.
Saying it was using “an abundance of caution,” MSG released a statement said it wouldn’t reopen the building until it was assured the arena was safe.
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