Denzel Valentine woke a monster with his fourth-quarter dancing celebration, and John Wall let the Bulls’ rookie know that minutes before drilling a go-ahead jump shot that sealed his Wizards’ 101-99 win over Chicago on Tuesday.
John Wall got mad at a Bulls rookie for dancing, then hit a game-winner
Wall hit a game-winner with 5.9 seconds left to give the Wizards a 101-99 win over the Bulls.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
“Oh, I just walked over there when they were coming out the huddle. I said, ‘That’s how you feel?’” Wall recalled. “I said, ‘You woke a monster.’”
Valentine made a three-pointer with 7:38 remaining in the fourth quarter to give his Bulls a 92-85 lead. He then celebrated the made field goal before Chicago forward Taj Gibson yelled at the rookie for showboating.
Valentine would miss his three final three-point attempts in the fourth quarter. Wall, on the other hand, would post six points and an assist after Valentine’s made triple, including a game-winning fadeaway jump shot with just 5.9 seconds left in regulation.
Wall finished with 26 points (11-of-21 shooting) and 14 assists, and his Wizards (19-18) have won three straight to move ahead of Milwaukee for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Wall got mad at the Greek Freak not too long ago, too.
It wasn’t too long ago the Wizards point guard had a bone to pick with Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo for perceived stat-padding late in a Milwaukee rout of Washington.
The Wizards got their revenge in a Dec. 27 win over the Bucks (and again on Jan. 8 — Washington is 3-1 in their four games against Milwaukee), and Wall sounded off about Antetokounmpo’s late numbers, per CSN Mid-Atlantic’s J. Michael.
“We felt like they whooped us badly but also you’re just up 20 or 30 points, keeping your star player in trying to get his numbers we kind of didn’t like that. We took that personal,” said John Wall, who had 18 points and a season-high 16 assists. “We didn’t have (anything) written on the board. We didn’t say too much. It was a lot more chippie, a lot more trash-talking than it was in the past. As long as we got the win, we’re fine.”
The Wizards are 6-2 since Antetokounmpo’s stat-stuffing beat down of Washington, and Wall is averaging 22.3 points, 11.3 assists, and 2.1 steals per game during that stretch. Maybe a little fire under the tookus is all he needed to get the team moving in the right direction.
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