Washington Wizards: Wizards Beat Celtics, a Tale of Two Halves
On Tuesday, the Washington Wizards beat the Boston Celtics. Whether it was a playoff preview or not remains to be seen. Yet, Washington put teams on notice.
On Tuesday, the Washington Wizards hosted the Boston Celtics. Whether it was a playoff preview or not remains to be seen.
The Celts are locked in the second spot in the East, while the Wizards have a chance to move up from eight.
Nonetheless, the Wizards played the game before them, beating Boston 113-101.
There were no platitudes before the game. Nothing about Cleveland or eating. The Wizards had a job to do and they let their game do the talking.
The opening salvo would come from Aron Baynes, who knocked down a three-pointer. Then it was off to the races from there for Boston.
Jaylen Brown would knock down five shots from 3-point range, including back-to-back threes.
Brown was on fire and ended the first stanza with 21 points, 5-for-7 from deep.
However, John Wall would knock down two of his own from deep. But it was a different kind of three. Not a Hail Mary three witnessed in times past during crunch time.
Rather, a measured and composed 3-pointer. One where he took his time, and knew beforehand it was going in before the ball left his hand.
It was clear that although Wall was out recovering from surgery, he quietly put in work.
The Wizards have appeared to move toward positionless basketball, because Wall’s first three came off an Otto Porter assist.
It wasn’t that the roles were reversed, but rather they were playing like a team and passing it to the person who had the best chance of making the shot.
Porter would add a 3-pointers of his own off a Wall assist. However, Boston kept firing away from Bunker Hill to hold onto the lead in the first quarter, 30-22.
To open the second quarter, Porter would run with the second-unit. The Celtics kept up their momentum, but the Wizards kept their composure.
When Wall re-entered the game, one had to re-check to see if he ever had surgery. That was the fastest sprint both of-and-off the ball.
Enough about Wall, it’s clear that he’s ready for the postseason. He still has to work on passing the ball when he changes his mind mid-air instead of taking the shot.
His teammates like everyone else thinks he’s about to take that shot, so they aren’t ready for that “mid-air” pass which leads to a turnover.
Mike Scott’s efficiency continues. He had 12 points in 6-for-7 shooting. He’s a threat both inside and outside the pain. He’s not the season’s unsung hero, because everyone knows what he brings to the table.
While Bradley Beal once a known knock-down 3-point shooter. He’s still that but his game has expanded so much.
Going into halftime Boston was up 54-52. But a funny thing happened in the second half. Normally throughout the season, the Wizards would run out of gas.
This time around they put their foot on the gas and didn’t let up. Wall was moving off the ball, Kelly Oubre’s defensive intensity returned, and don’t even want to write this although I’m not superstitious–he appears out of his shooting slump.