Celtics Beat the Brakes off Wizards in Sunday Matinee
April 3, 2022
There was a time when a 1 PM Sunday afternoon Celtics tip off would have induced nightmares, but the team was anything but sleepwalking as they exploded for a 144-102 walloping of the Washington Wizards. The Celtics surged to an early lead with hot shooting, but the defense gave up a lot of good looks and let the Wizards hang around, leading by only 11 at the break. However, the second half was complete Celtics domination on both ends, drubbing the Wizards to the tune of 74-43 after the break to win going away.
In their last regular season game of the year in TD Garden, the Celtics put on a show for their fans, connecting on a season high 62% of their shots from the field, including 23/44 from beyond the arc, and dishing out a season high 39 assists. Everything was clicking for the Celtics offensively and that includes a franchise record, 15 made threes by the bench. Derrick White and Grant Williams appear to be finding their stroke at the right time. Grant had 16 points on 4/5 shooting from deep, while White added 17 and made all three of his long range attempts. After a very slow start to his Celtics career, White is now shooting over 45% from three over his last five games. Payton Pritchard also chipped in 14 points on 4/7 threes, and even Aaron Nesmith hit three of his four threes late in the game for 11 points.
As great as the Celtics bench was, it was still the Jays leading the way. Jaylen Brown was brilliant right from the tip. He scored the Celtics first 11 points of the game, including burying three straight threes to get things going. He would finish with 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists on 12/17 shooting and 4/5 on three while only playing 28 minutes. Jayson Tatum was a little quieter scoring the ball, but he was completely controlling the game, finishing with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in just 29 minutes. He looked well on his way to a triple double in the first half, but with the massive lead, Ime Udoka was able to rest Tatum for the entire fourth quarter.
Despite leading by 11, the Celtics defense left a lot to be desired in the first half, including the 37 point second quarter they yielded to the lowly Wizards. Washington was looking pesky, and old foe Ish Smith seemed to be doing whatever he wanted, simply too quick for the Boston defenders. But the halftime pep talk and adjustments did the trick as Boston allowed only 20 points in the third quarter and 23 in the fourth. The intensity was clearly ratcheted up after recess and it felt like the Celtics wanted to make sure they put the game away quickly and got their starters plenty of rest. It was good to see the Celtics hit that level on the defensive end for the first time in a few games, especially on a night when the offense was also operating at maximum capacity. The story all season has been the Celtics defense, but since the beginning of February they now have the #1 rated offense in the league as well. For the entire season they’re all the way up to 8th in offensive rating to go along, of course, with the #1 rated defense in the league. At least on paper, that is the recipe for a championship contender.
The hapless Wizards looked like they can’t wait for this season to end as they’ve been eliminated from postseason contention for a while now. But even at 34-44, and with Bradley Beal out for the season they have been fighting hard lately. It looked like the Celtics were in for a fight after the first half, but they were just too much for Washington after the break.The Wizards were led by Kristaps Porzingis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who scored 17 points apiece.
With the victory, the Celtics improved their record to 49-30 on the season. They now sit alone in 2nd place in the East; half a game up on the Bucks and Sixers, and two full games back of the Heat for the 1 seed. Their magic number to clinch a top 4 seed and home court advantage in round 1 is now just one game. But technically the Celtics can still finish anywhere between #1 and #6, so there is plenty still to be decided over this last week and these final three games. Next up is a trip to Chicago on Wednesday night to take on the Bulls.
Ben Handler