Everything you need to know about the Wizards' 111-103 win over the Celtics in quickie form with BSJ insight and analysis.
HEADLINES
Defensive rebounding nightmares resurface: The Celtics didn’t play one of their better games at the first Christmas day game in Boston but some nice energy from the bench unit helped to carry them to a five-point lead in the fourth quarter. From there, the Wizards seized control, outscoring the Celtics by a 21-8 margin over the final six minutes of the game. The biggest issue during this stretch? The hosts grabbed zero defensive rebounds during the second half of the frame, while Washington grabbed seven of their 14 offensive rebounds in the period which led to ten crucial second-chance points.
The Wizards finally win one at the Garden: The Wizards went 0-for-6 at the Garden last season and had lost nine-straight overall before Monday’s Christmas Day breakthrough at the Garden. As usual, the visitors relied on their starting five to carry them to most of the win, as the fivesome combined for 91 of the team’s 111 points on the night.
TURNING POINT
The Wizards seized command of the game at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter with their small-ball lineup (Kelly Oubre at small forward, Otto Porter Jr. at power forward, Markieff Morris at center). That group erased a five-point Celtics lead with a 12-0 run over a four-minute span, one of the rare times all season that the Celtics had been handily outplayed during crunch time. The Wizards eventually cruised to the win from there.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum:
The 19-year-old didn’t even attempt a shot in the first quarter but that didn’t prevent him from catching fire for the majority of the final three frames. He went 7-of-8 from the field during one stretch and carried Boston’s second-unit offense in the second half with Kyrie Irving (20 points) and Al Horford (12 points) resting to score a team-high 20 points over 36 minutes. The most encouraging part? He did his scoring from inside/out this time, attacking the rim early and often on drives before knocking down a pair of 3s in transition in the second half.
Daniel Theis:
The oldest rookie on the Celtics roster continues to play like a savvy veteran off the bench. The 6-foot-9 German was a great help defender all night on the shifty Wizards guards in the paint, while still recovering enough to contest his own man on dishes. He was also an opportunistic offensive weapon within the C’s offense, scoring 12 points (including a 3-pointer) in just 18 minutes. His overall energy on both ends was crucial to keeping the hosts in the game during some lackluster stretches.
TWO DOWN
Aron Baynes:
The veteran center looks like a good matchup on paper against Marcin Gortat but he struggled against the all-around speedy Wizards in this matchup. On offense, he couldn’t capitalize on easy looks at the hoop (0-of-3) and the C’s defense was just showing little resistance with him on the floor in the second half, leading to him playing a season-low nine minutes.
Marcus Morris:
The forward made his return to the lineup after an eight-game absence and looked like a guy who had not played a game in weeks. He wasn’t shy about getting up shot attempts (seven in 16 minutes) and most of them were midrange looks that didn’t go down (1-of-7 overall). Defensively, Morris also struggled to stay with Porter Jr., who took advantage with hot shooting third quarter from beyond the arc.
INJURY REPORT
Jaylen Brown
Brad Stevens
TOP PLAY
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Daniel Theis might end up as a starter by the time this season is over:
If the Celtics want to protect Al Horford from playing too much of the five and still remain mobile in the frontcourt, Theis might be the answer in the middle. The 25-year-old is terrific on lobs and a strong recovery defender against pick-and-rolls. His shooting range is a question mark but he’s a better matchup against mobile bigs than Baynes or Morris right now.
The rebounding issues are turning into a major problem when the C's go small:
