The Boston Celtics defeated the Washington Wizards in NBA Cup action, winning 108-96. The Celtics did not play their best game, and it stayed close the whole way. Jaylen Brown led the team with 31 points and Jordan Poole scored 23 for the Wizards. This win pushes the Boston Celtics to 13-3 and 2-1 in the NBA Cup, while Washington dropped to 2-12 and 0-2 in the NBA Cup. The Celtics were without Al Horford, who was out with an illness.
A Close First Half
In the first quarter, the Boston Celtics came out flat, riding high after a Cleveland victory, and the Wizards built an early lead. Bilal Coulibaly was defending Jayson Tatum and gave the Celtics star all sorts of problems. Tatum had 5 points but shot 2-of-7 in the quarter. The Celtics were sloppy, turning the ball over at a higher rate than they would like, and their threes were not falling. The Wizards got out to an 18-11 lead, going on a 10-0 run.
Things did not turn for Boston until Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser came off the bench, each hitting a three to spark an 8-0 run. Pritchard led the Celtics with 7 first quarter points, while Hauser had 6. Jordan Poole scored 6 for Washington. After these runs by both teams, the first quarter was relatively even. The Boston Celtics led 29-27. The Washington Wizards took the lead back in the second quarter.
Former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon began to heat up with 13 points. The Celtics offensive struggles and bad turnovers continued, allowing the Wizards to build a double-digit lead on an 18-5 run. They also struggled with rebounding, which has been a recurring problem all season. Boston eventually responded, going on a 13-0 run to get back into the game. Luke Kornet was a difference maker in this run, making up for a lacking effort from Neemias Queta on defense and rebounding.
He was not stuffing the stat sheet, with 6 points and 4 rebounds at the half, but he was making an impact when not many Boston Celtics could. At halftime, the Washington Wizards led 51-49. Brogdon led the Wizards in scoring, but Kyle Kuzma was close behind with 10 points. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 14 points, while Tatum still struggled with just 6 in the first half.
The Boston Celtics Win Ugly
In the third quarter, both teams went back and forth. The Celtics and Wizards each struggled from three and the game remained stagnant. This bit of ugly basketball went on until Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla picked up a technical foul and the Wizards pulled back out front. Mazzulla’s outrage after a no-call on Jaylen Brown was probably the most eventful aspect of the quarter and showed more fire than most of the Celtics players. Boston did take the lead back off a Xavier Tillman block and a few buckets from Brown. At the end of an unremarkable third quarter, the Boston Celtics led 75-72.
Derrick White finally got going in the fourth quarter, scoring 8 quick points. Tatum continued to struggle, though, and was 0-of-10 from three. The Wizards hung around, though, with buckets from Poole and Valanciunas. The Celtics offensive ineptitude kept them from pulling away and a deep Poole three made it a 91-87 game with four minutes remaining. Tatum and Brown each got a couple of buckets inside to hold the Boston lead. A tough fadeaway from Brown finally put the game away, giving the Boston Celtics a 108-96 win.
Final Thoughts
The Boston Celtics improved to 13-3 with the win and 2-1 in the NBA Cup. Brown led the Celtics with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 16 and Tatum had a good fourth quarter to finish with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Poole led the Wizards with 23 points, while Kuzma had 21 and Brogdon had 18. Washington drops to 2-12 and 0-2 in the NBA Cup, effectively eliminating them from advancing.
But this win showed a glaring problem with the Boston Celtics. In an NBA Cup game where point differential matters, they came out flat. The Wizards, despite their efforts, did not play up to the Celtics level, the Celtics played down to theirs. Both teams shot poorly from three and the Wizards had more turnovers. The Celtics won, but it was much closer than it should have been for a team of their caliber.
