The Wizards have not been involved in a Game 7 since 1979 when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Finals, 107-105, from the now-defunct Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
Wall said he was motivated Friday by some gamesmanship on behalf of the Celtic players, who chose to come to the Verizon Center arena wearing all black outfits.
Wearing black in a closeout game to signify it as a "funeral game" is an National Basketball Association tradition that goes some ways back.
There was no lengthy chewing out of his team.
The game's first three and a half quarters weren't much to remember, as neither team shot the ball particularly well. In the end, the Celtics fought hard to be in position to win a game on the road against the Wizards for the first time all season and they achieved it. And with Washington winning Game 6, the Cavs will be off until Wednesday.
"Great shot by a great player, " Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
Luckily for the Wizards, Beal couldn't reach the ball, and Wall did his job. Because of Wall's exceptional driving ability, Bradley kept a little distance in case Wall tried to go downhill for the tie.
Ruthless. That's what Wall was on that shot. He made a game-changing play.
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"It was kind of something that just happened", he said.
Some Celtics said it was purely coincidence that they showed up wearing black, the way the Wizards did for what became known as the "Funeral Game", won by Washington in January.
Now it comes down to Game 7 and it's another chance for someone to be a hero, like Wall was in Game 6. The point guard and floor leader of the Washington Wizards started the evening in ghastly fashion, making only one of his nine shot attempts in the first half and scoring only three points before the break. The last two year's we were in the playoffs we lost Game Six here and we just had a lot of heart.
Wall's team-mate Bradley Beal (33) led all scorers, while Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas each poured in 27 for the Celtics.
They did and so did the Celtics. "The two best words in the playoffs are 'Game 7.' You get an opportunity to play in a Game 7 when every player on this team as a kid dreamt about playing in Game 7".
"Makes you want to lace 'em up again and go tomorrow because we were so close, you know?" Boston F Jae Crowder had 10 points.
In Washington, the result was more significant - literally and psychologically. Now it will all come down to one final battle in Boston where the Wizards haven't won since 2014. Hoots of "I can't believe we did it" rang through Verizon Center after the game was over. My money is with them staying with the same strategy and relying on the fact that the Celtics shooting from game 5 is most likely unsustainable.
It's a pretty safe bet to say that the Wizards' wardrobe selection in Boston on Monday night is going to contain quite a bit of black.
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