On any given night, any NBA player can leave an arena as the hero after making a game-winning play. But, in the case of Celtics forward Grant Williams, that opportunity resulted in anything but a storybook ending during Monday’s overtime road loss to the Cavaliers.
The hotly contested matchup came down to the wire, with the score tied, 109–109, with 5.1 seconds left in regulation. Celtics guard Payton Pritchard raced up the floor and missed what likely would’ve been a game-winning layup, only for Williams to fly in and get fouled on a putback attempt with 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
With Boston on the verge of victory, a confident Williams began chirping with Donovan Mitchell before stepping to the free throw line. The fourth-year forward then proceeded to tell the Cavaliers star that he would make both attempts, an awkward moment that ended up serving as a brutal reminder of what can happen when you speak a little too soon.
Williams’s first attempt clanked off the rim, sending an already frenzied crowd inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to a fever pitch as he gathered for the next shot. Perhaps already feeling the pressure rising, Williams was then unexpectedly granted more unwanted time to stand and think about his high-pressure second attempt after the Cavaliers, then Celtics, made substitutions before he got the ball back.
As fate would have it, Williams missed the shot and the game would go into OT after Boston watched another potential game-winning tip-in from Marcus Smart come up short. The Cavs would go on to pull away from the Celtics and claim a 118–114 victory.
Needless to say, the finish Monday’s was far from ideal for Boston. And, while he may play for a team with a leprechaun mascot, luck was clearly not on Williams’s side in Cleveland.
Following Monday’s loss, the Celtics (45–21) are now just two games ahead of the 76ers (42–22) for second place in the East.
