Washington Wizards 110-111 Boston Celtics: Twitter erupts as Jayson Tatum hits the game-winner to spoil Bradley Beal's 46-point outing

Jayson Tatum scored the game-winner with under five seconds to play against the Washington Wizards to eke out a close 111-110 victory for the Boston Celtics.

The 22-year-old outscored the Washington Wizards eight to four in the final 90 seconds of regulation, spoiling Bradley Beal's 46-point performance.

The win moves the Boston Celtics to a sixth-place tie in the Eastern Conference and improves them to .500 on the year with a 17-17 record.

Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards, who came into tonight's game-winning eight of their last ten games, sit in 12th place at 13-19.

Jayson Tatum leads Boston Celtics over the red-hot Washington Wizards

Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics defends Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards appeared to have the win locked up, as they led by as many as eight points with under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter. However, they had two crucial turnovers, one from Russell Westbrook and the other from Bradley Beal, who stepped out of bounds with under 12 seconds to play, giving the Boston Celtics to take back the lead at 110-109.

Brad Stevens and the Celtics did not get tricky with the play call. They gave the ball to their best player, Jayson Tatum, and let him go to work. He drove to the lane and absorbed contact to convert on the lay-up, giving the Celtics a one-point lead with 4.7 seconds to play. Beal missed the fadeaway jumper as the final whistle blew.

Here's how Twitter reacted to the final minutes of the Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics game:

Jayson Tatum for the lead pic.twitter.com/gwaNepPcRj

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 1, 2021

Jayson Tatum just showed up and showed the hell out when it mattered the most! Real Talk!!!

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) March 1, 2021

Jayson Tatum is better than Luka Doncic.

— Mike Fulton (@MikeyFultz14) March 1, 2021

IF YOU SAYING BEAL DONT TURN THE BALL OVER CONSTANTLY IN CRUCIAL TIMES, YOU DONT WATCH WIZARDS BASKETBALL

— Alecco (@TheAlecFaddoul) March 1, 2021

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Despite the loss, Bradley Beal made history by registering another 40-point game. He now has 21 games this season where he has reached at least the 30-point mark.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, no players since the NBA-ABA merger, aside from Michael Jordan (26) and James Harden (22), have registered more 30-point games through the first 30 games of a season.

Oddly enough, Bradley Beal has lost eleven straight games when scoring 40 or more points.

Bradley Beal finished with 46 points in the loss.He's now lost 11 straight games when scoring 40+ points, the longest streak in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/grjpZZVwdq

— ESPN (@espn) March 1, 2021

There have been 95 players in NBA history with at least 10 40-point games in their careers. Among that group, Bradley Beal has the worst record by any of them at 6-20 when scoring 40 points (.231 win pct). pic.twitter.com/HcGAdwosL7

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 1, 2021

Bradley Beal pic.twitter.com/Z2bky0mBTh

— '-' (@TheFiendish1) March 1, 2021

Although Jayson Tatum was the game-leading scorer and hit the game-winner, Daniel Theis deserves much of the credit for keeping the Celtics in the game. Midway through the fourth quarter, when the Washington Wizards were starting to pull away, Theis scored eight straight points for the Boston Celtics.

Check out how Twitter reacted to the big man's performance:

theis (single handed) keeping the "celtics" in this game Tonight.

— fongos (@fongos1) March 1, 2021

Eight straight points for Theis. Saving the Celtics right now.

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) March 1, 2021

Daniel Theis appreciation tweet. Theis is nice.

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 1, 2021

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