With Capital One Arena packed with Boston fans, the Celtics celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a 130-104 blowout of the Wizards.
Shorthanded without Jaylen Brown (back, Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring), and Derrick White (hand), the Celtics started with Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser, Oshae Brissett, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford.
With three of their top-4 scorers on the bench, Tatum took over early. After scoring 18 points of Boston’s 45 points in the first quarter, JT had 30 points (5-of-10 from 3) in three quarters. In his 27th start of the regular season, Horford scored 14 and pulled down four rebounds.
The Stay Ready group was rock steady in the nation’s capital. Hauser caught fire, hitting 10-of-13 from behind the arc, including 7-of-9 in the first half. Unfortunately, midway through the third quarter with Marcus Smart’s record of eleven threes in a game in reach, Hauser sprained his left ankle backpedaling into the Washington bench and headed to the locker room to a standing ovation. He finished with a career-high 30 points.
Payton Pritchard chipped with a double-double of 14 points and 13 assists (a career-high). Luke Kornet had another solid outing with 14 and 6 and two blocks.
With a 9.5-game lead over the Bucks in the East and 6-game over Oklahoma City for the overall #1 seed in the playoffs, the Celtics have the luxury to prioritize health and rest over their final sixteen games. Despite their lead, they’ve remained sharp and have, in fact, gotten sharper. During their 7-2 march in March (before tonight), they’ve flexed a net rating of 17.8 with their historic offense peaking at 127 points per 100 possessions and their defense improving every month since December.
The Celtics will host the Wizards in the final game of the season on April 14 back in Boston, but before that, they’ll be in TD Garden tomorrow with the Detroit Pistons at 7:30 pm EST in town on the backend of a back-to-back and the first of two in the homestand before heading out for their final extended road trip.
