Final: Celtics 110, Wizards 104 (OT)

WASHINGTON -- Greg Monroe is expected to make his Celtics debut tonight as the green face off with a shorthanded Wizards squad.

GAME: No. 55 of 82:
WHO: Celtics (39-16) vs. Wizards (31-23)
WHEN:  8:00 EST
WHERE:  Verizon Center
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
TV: TNT

Projected starters

Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes

Inactive: Marcus Smart (hand), and Shane Larkin (knee) are out.

Wizards
PG: Tomas Satoransky
SG: Bradley Beal
F: Otto Porter Jr.
F: Markieff Morris
C: Marcin Gortat 

Second Half Notes

• The Celtics played disciplined basketball for the first 18 minutes of the half. The starters came out and built a modest lead thanks to some disciplined defense. From there, the big bench unit took over.


• Marcus Morris shook off an ugly first half to score 13 points after intermission.


• Greg Monroe and Daniel Theis held down the glass nicely in the second half, anchoring the bench unit that built the lead up to 10 in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run to break a 75-75 tie.


• From there, the starters couldn't finish the job, despite being pretty fresh after heavy minutes from starters. They blew a double-digit lead with five minutes thanks to hot shooting from Beal and Porter Jr, as well as sloppy turnovers.

• Pretty evenly played first quarter for both sides. Otto Porter (9 points) and Bradley Beal (8 points) gave the Celtics problems per usual with their shooting. Kyrie Irving also got into trouble when he got switched onto Porter a couple times.


• Irving got into a nice groove midway through the frame, scoring six straight points for the Celtics before taking an early rest.


• Interesting tweak to the Celtics rotation early with Jayson Tatum playing the longest of the starters to begin contest. He's usually first to the bench to rest.


• Greg Monroe made his Celtic debut with three minutes left in first quarter and immediately airballed his first layup.


• Stevens really liked to experiment with big lineups in this one going with heavy forward bench lineups with Terry Rozier as his only guard and double bigs (Theis/Monroe). This group was interesting but gave up too many offensive rebounds despite their length.


• Monroe showing a lot of effort with loose balls, diving and making a good initial first impression despite tallying a tech and giving up some offensive rebounds.


• Baynes didn't play after first seven minutes. Stevens rode the hot hand with Theis at center/PF for much of the second quarter.


• Miserable half for Marcus Morris, much like his first game against the Wizards. Too much shooting and isolation, non-existent passing.


• Long rest for the Celtics stars (Irving, Horford) in second quarter. Nice change of pace there for Stevens to do that and stay close with Wizards.

• The Wizards have won three of four games overall since John Wall has been sidelined.


• Greg Monroe is expected to make his Celtics debut off the bench after signing officially as a free agent on Thursday afternoon.


• The Celtics lost all five games at the Verizon Center last season, including three in the postseason.