Wizards Top 76ers 116-114 In OT After Holiday Gift

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nick Young hit an open 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left in overtime, and the Washington Wizards capitalized on Jrue Holiday’s unwise foul in the final seconds of regulation to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-114 on Tuesday night.

Young finished with 19 points, but his winning shot wouldn’t have been possible if Holiday hadn’t fouled John Wall some 40 feet from the basket with 3.5 seconds left in regulation and the 76ers leading by three. Wall threw up the ball and got a shooting foul out of it, then made all three free throws to tie the game at 106 and send it to the extra period.

It was the second time in November that the Wizards beat the 76ers after taking the game to overtime by scoring three incredible points just before the buzzer. Cartier Martin’s desperation 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left sent the game to the extra period in the Wizards’ 116-115 win on Nov. 2.

Wall, who returned after missing four games with a sprained left foot, scored all of his 25 points after halftime following an 0-for-5 performance from the field in the first half. Wall entered the game midway through the first quarter, his first NBA appearance as a reserve.

JaVale McGee added 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Wizards. Andray Blatche had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Gilbert Arenas finished with 17 points and seven assists.

Andre Iguodala, who had missed three straight games and five of seven with tendinitis in his right Achilles’ tendon, had 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 50 minutes for the 76ers.

Marreese Speights scored 12 of his 16 points after halftime, and Thaddeus Young scored 11 of his 15 points after halftime.

Elton Brand added 19 points for the 76ers but was ejected with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter for a deliberate two-handed knockdown shove on McGee after a dunk, a retaliatory move after Arenas decked Holiday at the other end and didn’t draw a foul.

The bad blood continued as Speights and Wall were given technicals for a chest-to-chest confrontation in the final half-minute of regulation.

The game was also the second meeting between the top two picks in this year’s draft, No. 1 Wall and No. 2 Evan Turner. The roles were reversed from the first meeting earlier this month, when Wall started and Turner came off the bench. Turner has since earned a spot in the 76ers’ starting lineup and he scored only 11 points Tuesday—but eight came in the final minute of regulation and overtime. However, he also missed two crucial free throws late in the fourth.

The 76ers blew a 15-point fourth-quarter lead but seemed to have victory near at hand when Turner made two free throws with 12 seconds to go to pull Philadelphia ahead by three. Young then misfired on a fadeaway 3-pointer for the Wizards, but Turner then missed a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds to go.

Holiday then committed the foul on Wall, allowing the rookie to sink three straight from the line to send the game to overtime.

Notes: Wizards F Al Thornton left the game in the first half with a sprained left ankle and didn’t return. … A moment of silence was held on the eve of the first anniversary of the death of longtime Wizards owner Abe Pollin. … The Wizards are 5-2 at home, but 0-6 on the road.