Boston Celtics (20-5) at Washington Wizards (3-19) Game #26 12/15/24

The Celtics look for their second straight win when they take on the Wizards in Washington. This is the third of 4 matches between these two teams this season. The Celtics beat the Wizards 122-102 in Washington in their second game of the season. They also beat them 108-96 on Nov. 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 all-time and they are 98-76 in Washington.

The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 1.5 games back 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 second 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 offseason, 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. As you know, the Celtics 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 only one game since Saturday. 12/7 as they completed a 5 game homestand after games against Miami, Detroit, Milwaukee and Memphis as the first 4 games of the home stand. They will face Chicago at home on 12/19 and in Chicago in a home and home set. They then travel to Orlando before another 4 game homestand, hosting Philadelphia, Indiana twice and Toronto.

The Wizards play in the 1st of 2 home games and face the Charlotte Hornets at home on December 19th as their next game. They will then play in Milwaukee and in Oklahoma City before a 4 game homestand where they will host Charlotte, New York Knicks twice, and Chicago New Year’s Day. This game was added for both the Celtics and 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 missed Thursday’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 despite having only played one game in the 7 days leading up to this game.

The Wizards have 6 players on their injury report. Kyle Kuzma is out with a rib injury. Malcolm Brogdon is out 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, will start in place of the injured Kyle Kuzma.

Probable Celtics starters

Celtic’s reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Nehemiah Queta
Sam Hauser
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh

2 way players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/Out
Al Horford (rest) out

Head coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely guides starters

Wizards reserves
Marvin Bagley III
Patrick Baldwin, Jr
Johnny Davis
Anthony Gill
Richaun Holmes
Jonas Valanciunas

2 way players
Jared Butler
Justin Champagne
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. match. He shoots 43.5% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games 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 stick with him on the rim as he is a threat to hit his 3’s. He’s also a threat to steal the ball if the Celtics get sloppy.

Jaylen Brown vs Bilal Coulibaly
Coulibaly is averaging 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. match. 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 will again need to 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 add 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 a tough, physical defense. To reiterate, 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 in scoring 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 particularly a great 3-point shooting team, and the Celtics are 25th, allowing 51.5 points in the paint per game. match.

Rebound – The Celtics are 14th with 44.0 rebounds per game, while the Wizards are 22nd with 42.9 rebounds per game. match. 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 limit their opponent’s possessions. A lot of rebounding is effort and hustle, and when the Celtics put in extra effort and stress on the boards, it usually translates into the rest of their game. Each player must commit to crashing the boards and going for every rebound at 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 lack starters and rotation players. This has been a recipe for disaster for the Celtics in the past. The Celtics can’t take the Wizards for granted, even though they are obviously tanks and short on players. Even tank teams want to beat the Celtics. The Wizards 3 wins came against the Hawks twice and the Nuggets, both good teams. The Celtics need to take the Wizards seriously and play them like they are 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. At times they also seem to either start slowly and end up in a hole that they have to dig themselves out of, or jump out to a lead only to let up in the second half and allow their opponent to come back in play and get it close. The Celtics need to get back to playing hard on both ends of the court for the full 48 minutes without letting up.

The X-Factors
On track and focus – The Celtics play on the road again after 5 games at home. They have to overcome the distractions that come with playing on the road such as travel, hotel stays, missing family, an unfamiliar building and a hostile crowd. They need to stay focused on playing Celtics basketball the right way and not on the Pistons’ record or lack of players.

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