The Celtics are looking for their 2nd straight win as they take on the Wizards in Washington. This is the 3rd of 4 games between these two teams this season. The Celtics beat the Wizards 122-102 in Washington in their 2nd game of the season. They also beat them 108-96 on November 22, also in Washington. They will play each other for the 4th and final time in Boston on April 6. The Celtics swept the series 4-0 last season. The Celtics are 204-120 overall all time and they are 98-76 in Washington.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 4 games ahead of the 3rd place Orlando Magic. They are 9-2 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 18-3 against Eastern Conference opponents and are looking for their 2nd straight win. The Wizards are 15th in the East, 17.5 games behind Cleveland. They are 2-9 at home and 1-9 in their last 10 games. They are 2-13 against Eastern Conference teams.
In the off season, the Wizards added 3 first round picks from this year’s draft: 2nd pick Alex Sarr, 14th pick Carlton “Bub” Carrington, and 24th pick Kyshawn George. They also added Key veterans Jonas Valenciunas, former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey, and Anthony Gill. They also traded Deni Avdija and lost Tyus Jones to free agency. The Celtics, as we know, are basically the same team as last year’s championship team.
The Celtics just finished a tough stretch of 5 games in 7 nights but played just one game since Saturday 12/7 when they finished a 5 game home stand after games against Miami, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Memphis as the first 4 games in the home stand. They will face Chicago at home on 12/19 and at Chicago in a home and home set. They then travel to Orlando before another 4 game home stand where they host Philadelphia, Indiana twice, and Toronto.
The Wizards are playing in the 1st of 2 home games and will face the Charlotte Hornets at home on December 19 as their next game. They will then play at Milwaukee and at Oklahoma City before a 4 game home stand where they will host Charlotte, the New York Knicks twice, and Chicago on New Year’s Day. This game was added for both the Celtics and the Wizards after both teams failed to advance in the Emirates NBA Cup Tournament.
After sitting out the Celtics last game against the Pistons with knee soreness, Jayson Tatum is expected to return to action in this game. Sam Hauser, who sat out Tthursday’s win over the Pistons, is also expected to be active for this game. Jaden Springer, who missed the game with an illness, is also off the injury report at this time. The only player listed on the injury report is Al Horford who will be held out for rest in this game in spite of playing just one game in the 7 days before this game.
The Wizards have 6 players on their injury report. Kyle Kuzma is out with a rib injury. Malcolm Brogdon is o ut with a hamstring injury. Saddiq Bey is out with a knee injury. Corey Kispert is out with an ankle injury. and 2 way player, Tristan Vukcevic is out with a knee injury. Another two way player and former Celtic, Justin Champagnie is starting in place of the injured Kyle Kuzma.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Sam Hauser
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson
Injuries/Out
Al Horford (rest) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Wizards Starters
Wizards Reserves
Marvin Bagley III
Patrick Baldwin, Jr
Johnny Davis
Anthony Gill
Richaun Holmes
Jonas Valanciunas
2-Way Players
Jared Butler
Justin Champagnie
Tristan Vukcevic
Injuries/Out
Saddiq Bey (knee) out
Tristan Vukcevic (knee) out
Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring) out
Kyshawn George (ankle) out
Corey Kispert (ankle) out
Kyle Kuzma (ribs) out
Head Coach
Brian Keefe
Key Matchups
Derrick White vs Jordan Poole
Poole is averaging 20.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He is shooting 43.5% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 gamea against the Celtics, Poole averaged 24.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2.5 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to stay with him on the perimeter as he is a threat to hit his 3’s. He is also a threat to steal the ball if the Celtics get sloppy.
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Jaylen Brown
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
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Bilal Coulibaly
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Jaylen Brown vs Bilal Coulibaly
Coulibaly is averaging 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He is shooting 44.3% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games against the Celtics he averaged 7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 27.3% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to once again defend him well in this one.
Honorable Mention
Kristaps Porzingis vs Alex Sarr
Sarr is averaging 10.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks. He is shooting 39.3% from the field and 26.1% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games against the Celtics, he averaged 4.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 blocks while shooting 25% from the field and no 3 pointers. Porzingis didn’t play in either of the first 2 games against his former team so will likely look to give a little extra in this one.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always the key to winning. The Celtics won their championship last season with tough, physical defense. To repeat, they will need to once again make defense a priority. The Celtics are 9th with a defensive rating of 110.3 while the Wizards are 29th with a defensive rating of 119.0. The Celtics were first in the league on defense last season and they need to get back to playing that tough lock down defense every game this season. The Celtics especially need to defend the paint because the Wizards aren’t especially a big 3 point shooting team and the Celtics are 25th, allowing 51.5 points in the paint per game.
Rebound – The Celtics are 14th with 44.0 rebounds per game while the Wizards are 22nd with 42.9 rebounds per game. Again, the Celtics were 2nd last season with 46.7 rebounds per game with basically the same roster. It’s important for the Celtics to rebound to give themselves extra possessions and to limit their opponents’ possessions. Much of rebounding is effort and hustle and when the Celtics give extra effort and hustle on the boards, it usually translates into the rest of their game. Each player needs to commit to crashing the boards and going after every rebound on both ends of the court.
Don’t Underestimate – This is probably the biggest trap game of the season for the Celtics. The Wizards are last in the league and missing starters and rotation players. This has been a recipe for disaster in the past for the Celtics. The Celtics can’t take the Wizards for granted, even though they are obviously tanking and missing players. Even tanking teams want to beat the Celtics. The Wizards 3 wins came against the Hawks twice and the Nuggets, both good teams. The Celtics have to take the Wizards seriously and play them as if they were the top team in the league.
Maximum Effort for 48 Minutes – The Celtics losses this season can be traced back to a lack of effort. Also, at times it seems that they either start off slowly and end up in a hole that they need to dig themselves out of or they jump out to a lead only to let up in the second half and allow their opponent to get back into the game and make it close. The Celtics have to get back to playing hard on both ends of the court for the full 48 minutes with no let up.
X-Factors
On the Road and Focus – The Celtics are playing on the road once again after a 5 game home stand. They have to overcome the distractions that come with playing on the road like travel, staying in hotels, missing family, an unfamiliar building and a hostile crowd. They have to stay focused on playing Celtics basketball the right way and not on the Pistons’ record or missing players.
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