Everything you need to know about the Celtics beating the Wizards 107-96 with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics finally shake out of a rut with big fourth quarter: It wasn’t pretty but the Celtics fought through their usual second and third quarter adversity and held the Wizards to just 15 fourth-quarter points, which helped them pull away with a 107-96 victory. Al Horford led a balanced Celtics offense with a team-high 18 points while Kyrie Irving chipped in with a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists. Seven different players scored in double figures as the C’s snapped their four-game losing streak with a much-needed win before a brutal portion of the schedule in the next two weeks. Bradley Beal had a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for Washington in the setback.
Jaylen Brown comes up big in fourth: The reserve shooting guard was the best player on the floor in the fourth due to his stellar play on both ends. He scored 11 of his 13 points in the final frame and forced the Wizards into multiple turnovers in the period which produced some crucial easy points for the C’s. The strong effort earned him crunch time minutes over Marcus Morris, while Gordon Hayward got the nod over Jayson Tatum primarily for defensive reasons after some miscues in transition D by the second-year forward.
TURNING POINT
The Garden crowd was begging for a reason to get loud for the final three quarters in the midst of an ugly tight contest and they finally got one midway through the fourth. Boston’s second unit broke open a back-and-forth game with a 6-0 run to push the lead to a nine with Al Horford and Kyrie Irving resting on the bench. The C’s rode that edge for the final six minutes to the win.
TWO UP
Al Horford: The one guy on the roster that is doing his job on a nightly basis in the midst of a rough month. He had a team-high 14 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting, along with a team-high plus/minus of plus-12. His steadying presence on both ends is a necessity for a roster full of so many inconsistent parts on his way to 18 points and a plus-19 on the night.
Marcus Smart: The gritty guard broke out of his shooting funk by knocking down all four of his attempts from beyond the arc on his way to a 16-point scoring night. He also added a pair of steals and was the only Celtics guard that could keep members of the Wizards backcourt in front of him in the second half.
TWO DOWN
Transition defense in the first half: The lapses on the defensive end keep happening with this group as the C’s can’t seem to adapt to the fact that almost every team in the league likes the run. Washington closed a 15-point first half deficit based on this part of the game alone, taking advantage of leak outs on their way to 21 fast break points.
Marcus Morris: The veteran forward talked a big game on Friday morning but still can’t shake out of his 3-point shooting funk while taking on the volume of a top scoring option for this group. He misfired on two of his first eight attempts from downtown on his way to a 3-of-11 night from beyond the arc. Most of the looks came within the flow of the offense but that’s still too many attempts for a guy shooting 27 percent from deep this month and had zero assists.
TOP PLAY
Rozier with the steal, Hayward with the dime and Morris Sr. with the loud dunk! pic.twitter.com/fIV9rNK17d
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 2, 2019