After even-tempered and exciting 48 minutes, the Washington Wizards (19-15) finally win 111:103 (BOXSCORE) against the Boston Celtics (27-10). The Celts have nothing to oppose the strong baking-court duo of the wizards consisting of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Meanwhile, Daniel Theis can completely convince.
After game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals 2017, the two teams met again for the first time at Christmas. After all the bad blood in the past season, Celtics and Wizards performed relatively well at the Feast of Love – which could be partly due to the Celtic personnel change in the summer.
Guests from the US capital, however, got off to a better start in the game, although they were not able to really take off. Thus, it remained a balanced match until the half-time break, in which no team was able to gain a decisive advantage.
At the beginning of the third section the wizards seemed to divide something. The guests came back from the cabin hot as a breeze, and at the initial 12:2 run they even wanted to drop the threes. On the other hand, it was Kyrie Irving who found the right answer. The game promised a lot of excitement for the final quarter (80:76 for Washington).
At first, it was the strong Celtics bank that gave Boston a 5-point lead – the highest level of leadership in the game for the hosts. But then John Wall and Bradley Beal turned up the heat again. The dynamic Guard duo led Washington to a 12-0 run, with the guests taking control.
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Though shortened Rozier (16 points, 7 rebounds) just one minute before the end, 5 turnovers in the final section alone were too much. Washington did not let the victory be taken away. The two outstanding players were Wall and Beal. The latter was his team’s top scorer with 25 points (8 rebounds, 2 assists), while Wall hung up 21 points, 14 assists and 5 rebounds. They received important support from Kelly Oubre Jr. (16) and Otto Porter (20), who also grabbed an important offensive rebound in the final minute.
Irving and Jayson Tatum (7/9 FG) each scored 20 points in Celtics, but the bank made a particularly strong appearance. In addition to Rozier, Daniel Theis, who scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block in 18 minutes, was convincing. The German knew to impress at both ends of the court.
However, he could not prevent the fifth victory from the last seven games for the Wizards. After nine straight defeats at the TD Garden, Washington finally celebrated another success in Boston.
Celtics vs. Wizards: Click here for the BOXSCORE!
The backcourt of the wizards. John Wall and Bradley Beal were simply outstanding. Both convinced with strong playmaking and scoring, with numerous aggressive drives they found their way to the basket again and again. Boston simply had no answer to the guests’ backcourt duo.
Marcus Morris. After missing nine games due to a knee injury, the Big Man showed a mixed comeback. In 16 minutes of limited time, Morris scored just 2 points and 4 rebounds. In some situations he seemed to be a bit hasty (1/7 FG). The direct duel against his twin brother Markieff was not very successful.
Even without constantly radiating danger from a distance, the offense of the wizards worked quite well. This was mainly due to the numerous Pick & Rolls, which Boston did not get under control until the end of the game. Due to the strong screens from Gortat and Co. the players holding the ball were given a lot of space to create throws for themselves or their fellow players. Of course, this also helped with the many penetrations that Washington made possible a total of 60 points in the zone (BOS: 44).