WATCH: Grant Williams trash talks Donovan Mitchell before missing two game-winning free throws
The Boston Celtics fell in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Grant Williams was roasted by NBA fans for missing a pair of free throws. The former Tennessee star went to the free throw line in a 109-109 tie with less than one second left in the game.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell gave a last-ditch effort by trying to psych Williams out before his crucial free throw attempts, prompting Williams to respond defiantly that he would “make both” of them in a heated moment of trash talk.
Williams failed to make either, and the Cavaliers went on to win in overtime 118-114.
Grant Williams misses pair of game-winning free throws
The Boston Celtics have had a target on their back over recent history given their continued success and team’s history, but opposing fans have had to watch as the Celtics won anyways for most of the year. On Monday, the Cavaliers got the ultimate revenge as Williams’ trash talk fell flat in the worst way possible.
The Celtics entered Monday’s Eastern Conference showdown still chasing the conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Instead, the Cavaliers managed to climb a little bit closer to the three-seed themselves at the expense of Boston.
Williams and Mitchell were clearly visible on camera doing something that happens almost all the time in the NBA, with Mitchell jawing at Williams to throw him off his focus. Rarely does it work as well as it did for Mitchell though, and unfortunately for Williams it came after he proudly declared the game was ending by his hands.
Williams shot well for the entire game until the final second, hitting 4-of-5 three-point attempts and finishing with 12 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of action. For Mitchell’s side, he didn’t just win the mental battle at the free throw line as he finished the game with another 40-point performance, with 11 rebounds and four assists.