The Washington Wizards entered Friday night's matchup with the Boston Celtics looking to end their nine-game losing streak on their home floor.
Through the first half of this battle, Washington looked like they could be on pace to potentially upset the defending champions. At one point, the Wizards seemed to be in control of the game and the home crowd was giving them the energy they needed to continue playing with pace.
In fact, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla acknowledged after the game that the energy was so much on the Wizards side that he opted to get a technical foul called on him to shift the enegy in the building. The technical foul came after a missed no-call on a Jaylen Brown drive that involved a lot of contact on the way to the rim. Following the tech, Boston went on a 12-4 run to retake the lead.
Despite the loss, the Wizards managed to find a spark from their offseason acquisition iin just his third game in his new team's threads.
Malcolm Brogdon puts together his best performance in a Wizards jersey
Entering this matchup, it seemed pretty clear that this would be a game that Malcolm Brogdon had circled on his calendar. After being traded from the Celtics two offseason ago after winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, the veteran never had the chance to play against his former team with the Portland Trail Blazers after dealing with injuries all season long.
Undoubtedly, Brogdon did seem like this game against Boston meant more to him than just another matchup on the schedule, and for good reason. The Virginia product finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds and one assists, while shooting 53.8% from field goal range (7/13 FG) and knocking down his lone three-point attempt on the night.
While Brogdon may not admit that he looked at this game as a revenge game, you could tell with his play on the court that he had a point to prove. Fortunately for the Wizards, this game could be the confidence booster the veteran needed to get find his rhythm after struggling during his first two games of the season.
Nonetheless, Brogdon's solid game doesn't take away from the fact that the Wizards losing streak has now reached 10 games. Sitting at 2-12, Washington is inching closer to an important offseason and a firesale at the NBA trade deadline in February.