When Bradley Beal picked up his sixth foul with 4:58 remaining in the fourth quarter of a tied game, the Washington Wizards prognosis looked bleak. The Wizards, who have struggled at times to finish games were without its best pure shooter and second-best player as he fouled out of the game. And when Jakob Poeltl knocked a jumper to put the Toronto Raptors ahead 94-92, all hope dwindled for the Wizards. But as Beal said, there should have been no worries because Washington still had its leader, its best play-maker, its best player, John Wall, on the floor.
For all his abilities to dominate the pace and flow of a game, Wall has been snake bitten with what many perceive as a lack of closing ability. Through all the fast break offense, electric passes, and prowling defense, Wall has struggled with being clutch in key moments. On Sunday, that was not the case as Wall, who earlier in the game screamed “This is my city” proved to own the night.
The five-time All-Star understood the only way the Wizards were going to avoid falling into an insurmountable 3-1 series deficit, he would need to finish the game and finish it without his dynamic mate Beal. Wall drove through the lane with Poeltl on his hip for a layup that was ruled goal-tending to tie the game at 94-94.
Then he closed out on a red-hot DeMar DeRozan for a missed three. Wall pushed the pace and found Markieff Morris on a lob to take the lead by two. Later, Wall leaked out on the wing for Kelly Oubre to find him in transition for another layup to give Washington a 99-96 with 1:57 remaining. It was Wall who closed out on DeRozan in the corner for another missed three.
Then with less than a minute to go, Wall called his own number. Calling for a screen, Wall drove to the baseline with Serge Ibaka closing and pulled up to hit a fadeaway jumper for the dagger to give Washington a 102-96 lead. He later buried two free throws to ice the game, finishing with eight points and three assists in the final quarter. He was responsible for eight of the Wizards’ final 14 points, finishing with 27 points, 14 assists, six rebounds, and three steals.
“A very determined player… that was attacking, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks on Wall per Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “He’s a big shot maker and play maker. It was what you expect and what you want from your all-star.”
In the clutch moment, Wall understood what needed to be done. He not only put the team on his back in the fourth quarter but asserted himself as the best player throughout the first four games of the series for either team. The Raptors have struggled to find an answer for him. When they crowd and blitz him, he is finding his teammates. When they lag off him he is giving the Raptors defense a balance of jumpers and drives through gaps.
Even with Beal, who scored a team-high 31 points, on the bench Toronto couldn’t slow down Wall and his play-making abilities on both ends. Wall carried his team on his back to the finish line to get the much-needed win and give his team a newfound momentum as the series goes back to Toronto tied at 2-2.
