For most of the night, the Boston Celtics controlled the tempo and the scoreboard. But the moment everyone talked about after Boston’s 112–93 win over the Sacramento Kings wasn’t a run, a dunk, or a dagger. It was a last-second three in a game that was already over.
With the Celtics up big and the clock winding down, Chris Boucher, appearing in a game for the first time since Nov. 23, didn’t dribble it out. He launched and buried a buzzer-beating three, a shot that read like pure instinct from a player who hadn’t seen the floor in more than two months and simply wanted to feel the ball go in.
That’s also why it irritated Russell Westbrook at first. Westbrook, who did not play, took issue with the late shot after the horn and walked toward Boucher at midcourt, creating a quick flash of tension in a game that otherwise had none.
The standoff didn’t last. Payton Pritchard stepped between them, the conversation happened face-to-face, and the temperature dropped almost as quickly as it rose. By the end of it, Westbrook was smiling and slapping hands with Boucher, the kind of “say your piece, then move on” exchange that old-school players actually respect when it’s done directly.
FULL MOMENT: Russell Westbrook runs on court to scream at Boucher for taking 3 at end of game pic.twitter.com/J5yXAxA08g
— NBAbzy (@nbabzyy) January 31, 2026
The subtext matters here. In NBA etiquette, the “right” play in a blowout is usually to run the clock out. But Boucher’s context wasn’t about running up a score; it was about ending a long layoff with something tangible, a made shot, a moment of rhythm, even if it came at the buzzer.
