The Washington Wizards had a true character win last night against the Brooklyn Nets in a 149-146 contest where Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook made back-to-back three point shots in the span of eight seconds. With 12.3 seconds left in the game, Washington was behind 146-141 with Beal making a three.
On the following possession, Garrison Mathews stole the ball from Joe Harris, who passed the ball to Westbrook for a second three with just 4.3 seconds left. That made the score 147-146.
Eventually, the Wizards padded the margins with a pair of free throws by Beal.
You can watch the sequence of events in the video above.
The game isn’t just a huge comeback win for the Wizards, who were 3-12 heading into last night. It was also a historic comeback. According to ESPN States & Info, this is the ninth time in 25 years that a team has come back from five points or more with 10 or less seconds in the game.
The @WashWizards trailed by 5 tonight with less than 10 seconds left and won.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 1, 2021
In the last 25 seasons, teams are now 9-23,498 when trailing by 5+ in the final 10 seconds of the game. However, it's the 2nd straight day this type of comeback has happened (POR at CHI on Saturday). pic.twitter.com/Q7wcpKgfAy
There were 23,507 total games played in that span, giving teams a 9-23,498 record, or a 0.038 percent chance of winning when in such a situation. That’s less than one percent, and less than one tenth of a percent. Wow!
Though the win is historic, it’s also the second time this happened in the last two days. On Saturday, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Chicago Bulls on the road, 123-122 after Damian Lillard made two threes in the last 10 seconds of the game, including the buzzer-beating game winner.
While both comebacks are amazing in their own respect, I’m biased. I think the Wizards’ win is bigger considering that the team is gradually getting back into regular season game shape after missing a couple weeks due to a coronavirus outbreak.