Scott Brooks declared "the basketball gods gave us a break" after his Washington Wizards side produced a stunning comeback to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday
The Wizards, bottom of the Eastern Conference, went on an astonishing 8-0 in the final 8.1 seconds at the Capital One Arena to snatch a dramatic 149-146 victory.
Second-placed Brooklyn (13-9) led by five points with only 10 seconds to play, but suffered a staggering collapse.
Bradley Beal landed a deep shot from beyond the arc after Nets star Kyrie Irving made a pair of free throws, before the Wizards stole the ball as the Nets tried to inbound – Russell Westbrook nailing a three-pointer to put Washington ahead.
Beal then sank two free throws to give the Wizards (4-12) their first win since January 11, bringing a four-game losing streak to a halt.
Wizards coach Brooks said: "It was the first game all year I had a White Claw. I wanted to enjoy it. This is a good feeling.
"I wanted our players to enjoy it. We fought. We fought hard.
"We've done it all year, and the basketball gods gave us a break tonight."
Westbrook (41) and Beal (37) became the first pair of Wizards team-mates to score 37-plus points in a single game since the team moved to Washington in 1974.
Twice in the past two days has a team won in regulation after trailing by five-plus points inside the final 10 seconds – the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. It only happened twice in the previous 2,871 days – the Chicago Bulls in 2019 and Boston Celtics in 2016.
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