The Celtics look to win their second straight game as they host the Washington Wizards for their only game in Boston this season. This is the 4th, and final, game between these two teams this season. The Celtics beat the Wizards 122-102 in Washington in their 2nd game of the season. They also beat them 108-96 on November 22, also in Washington. They beat them 112-98 on December 15, also in Washington. The Celtics swept the series 4-0 last season. The Celtics are 205-120 overall all time and they are 107-44 in games played in Boston.
The Wizards were very busy at the trade deadline. They traded Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin for Khris Middletonand AJ Johnson. They traded Jonas Valanciunas to the Kings for Sidy Cissoko and picks and later waived Cissoko. They traded Marvin Bagley III and Johnny Davis in a three team deal that brought back Marcus Smart and Colby Jones.
The Celtics remain 2nd in the East. They are 5 games behind 1st place Cleveland. They are 8 games ahead of 3rd place New York and 11 games ahead of 4th place Indiana. They are 25-13 at home and 9-1 in their last 10 games. They are 35-12 against Eastern Conference teams. They are coming off a win in their last game.
The Wizards are last in the East and are 1.5 games behind the Jazz for last place in the league. They are 45 games behind first place Cleveland. They are 2 games behind 14th place Charlotte. They are 9-28 on the road and 2-8 in their last 10 games. They are 12-35 against Eastern Conference teams and are coming off a loss in their last game.
The Celtics just completed the first 6-0 road trip in Celtics history. The lost their first game back at home 124-103 to the Heat. They won their 2nd game at home 123-103 over the Suns on Friday. After this game, they will head back on the road for back to back games at New York and at Orlando. They will finish the season with 2 games against the Charlotte Hornets at home.
Washington just finished a 5 game home stand where they lost to Indiana, Brooklyn, Miami, and Orlando and beat Sacramento. This is the first of 2 games on the road and they will play at Indiana on Tuesday. They play Philadelphia at home before closing the season on the road against Chicago and Miami.
Kristaps Porzingis left Friday’s game with a cut on his nose that required stitches. He has been cleared to play in this game. Jaylen Brown was questionable for Friday’s game with the knee contusion that has kept him out of several games recently. He played Friday but is once again questionable for this game. Jayson Tatum is also questionable for this game with ankle soreness. I’ve included both Brown and Tatum in the starting lineup. If they can’t play, Sam Hauser and Al Horford may get the start but at this point of the season, I’m not sure.
The Wizards have a long list of players out for this game. Saddiq Bey (knee), Malcolm Brogdon (ankle), Bilal Coulibaly (hamstring), Kyshawn George (ankle), Corey Kispert (thumb), and Khris Middleton (knee) are all listed as out for this game. Tristan Vucevic (knee ) is listed as questionable. Richaun Holmes (shoulder) is listed as probable. Jordan Poole, who missed the last game is expected to play in this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
Grid View
Celtics ReservesPayton PritchardNeemias QuetaBaylor ScheiermanJordan WalshLuke KornetTorrey CraigSam HauserAl HorfordXavier Tillman, Sr
2 Way PlayersJD DavisonDrew PetersonMiles Norris
Injuries/OutJaylen Brown (knee) questionableJayson Tatum (ankle) questionable
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Probable Wizards Starters
Grid View
Wizards Reserves Anthony Gill Richaun HolmesColby JonesMarcus Smart
Two Way PlayersJaylen MartinJT ThorTristan Vucevic
Injuries/Out Saddiq Bey (knee) out Malcolm Brogdon (ankle) out Bilal Coulibaly (hamstring) out Kyshawn George (ankle) out Corey Kispert (thumb) outKhris Middleton (knee) out Tristan Vucevic (knee) questionable Richaun Holmes (shoulder) probable
Head CoachBrian Keefe
Key Matchups
Grid View
Jayson Tatum
Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images
Jordan Poole
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Jayson Tatum vs Jordan PoolePoole is averaging 20.6 points, 3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 43.1% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc. In the first 3 games against the Celtics, Poole averaged 23.3points, 2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.3 steals while shooting 47.3% from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to stay with him on the perimeter as he is a threat to hit his 3’s. He is also a threat to get into the passing lanes if the Celtics get sloppy.
Grid View
Kristaps Porzingis
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Alex Sarr
Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
Kristaps Porzingis vs Alex SarrSarr is averaging 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks. He is shooting 39.5% from the field and 31.7% from beyond the arc. In the first 3 games against the Celtics, he averaged 7.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1.7 blocks while shooting 29.4% from the field and 15.4% on threes. Porzingis may look to give a little extra effort against his former team.
Honorable MentionPayton Pritchard vs Marcus SmartSmart is averaging 9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He is shooting 39.3% from the field an 34.8% from beyond the arc. He played just one game against the Celtics this season, and that was with the Grizzlies. In that game he finished with 3 points 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal while shooting just 9.1% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. Smart has been plagued with injuries since joining the Wizards but hopefully he will play in this one.
Keys to the Game Defense – Defense is always the key to winning. The Celtics won their championship last season with tough, physical defense. To repeat, they will need to once again make defense a priority. The Celtics are 5th with a defensive rating of 110.6 while the Wizards are 28th with a defensive rating of 118.0. The Celtics must defend both in the paint and on the perimeter for all 48 minutes with no let-up.
Rebound – The Celtics are 9th with 45.1 rebounds per game while the Wizards are 18th with 43.8 rebounds per game. It’s important for the Celtics to rebound to give themselves extra possessions and to limit their opponents’ possessions. Much of rebounding is effort and hustle and when the Celtics give extra effort and hustle on the boards, it usually translates into the rest of their game. Each player needs to commit to crashing the boards and going after every rebound on both ends of the court.
Don’t Underestimate – This is one of the biggest trap games of the season for the Celtics. The Wizards are last in the East and missing 6 players with another one questionable. This has been a recipe for disaster in the past for the Celtics. The Celtics can’t take the Wizards for granted, even though they are obviously tanking and missing players. Even tanking teams want to beat the Celtics and, any team with Marcus Smart will play hard. The Wizards have wins against the Hawks, Timberwolves and the Nuggets, who likely underestimated them. The Celtics have to take the Wizards seriously and play them as if they were the top team in the league.
Maximum Effort for 48 Minutes – The Celtics losses this season can be traced back to a lack of effort. Also, at times it seems that they either start off slowly and end up in a hole that they need to dig themselves out of or they jump out to a lead only to let up in the second half and allow their opponent to get back into the game and make it close. The Celtics have to play hard on both ends of the court for the full 48 minutes with no let up.
X-Factors Home Game – The Celtics are once again at home. They should get a boost from the home crowd and from being in familiar surroundings. The Celtics need to have a sense of urgency at home to protect home court and not expect to win because the Wizards have been tanking this season. The Wizards will have to deal with travel, staying in a hotel, and a hostile crowd and hopefully that will give the Celtics the advantage.
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. Some favor the home team. Some favor the road team. Some just make bad, head scratching calls as we have seen many times. The Celtics need to adjust to the way the refs call the game and not let bad calls and no calls take them out of the game or affect their focus.
And make sure to check out CelticsBlog’s Playback stream for a live conversation about the game. To participate, just create a free account, connect your LP sub if you have it, and join our community.
