Source: Patrick McDermott / Getty
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Wizards hosted the Boston Celtics Monday night without the services of superstar Bradley Beal for the third straight game and 4th time in six contests. Beal or no Beal, the Wizards came to play and took down the visitors from Beantown.
The night started out promising for the hometown Wizards as former Celtic Isaiah Thomas drained a three-pointer to put his current team up 7-2. Thomas’ five early points combined with Jordan McRae’s own four even saw the Wiz up a surprising 14-8 at the first official timeout with 5:48 left in the 1st quarter. The lead was made all the more surprising due to the fact the starting lineup featured only one t legitimate NBA player in Thomas and another in name only, as Gary Payton II (son of 9x All-Star and NBA Champion Gary “The Glove” Payton) started in the stead of the injured Beal. Some might say a lineup like that had nothing to lose and was even more dangerous and, at least Monday night, some would be correct.
Following the timeout, the Celtics scored two quick buckets, got within 2 and it looked like they had started to find their groove. However, the Wizards responded and went on and outscored Boston 12-9 the rest of the way. Washington’s response, capped by an Ish Smith 3 pointer, saw their lead expand to 26-17 as they headed to the 2nd quarter. The 17 points they allowed to Boston were the fewest they had given up in the 1st quarter to an opponent all season. In fact, the previous low was 19, just last Saturday to the Denver Nuggets. Prior to that, the Wizards had allowed at least 30 points in the 1st quarter in seven consecutive games and 23 of 24.
Bad luck for the Wizards struck barely one minute into the 2nd quarter as Garrison Mathews went down with an ankle injury and had to be helped off the court. He would not return and with 10:46 left when Mathews was hurt, Washington led 26-19. The Wizards persisted even after the injury and opened up a 32-21 lead before taking the Celtics’ push led by Marcus Smart’s three 3-pointers to pull his team back within 4, 36-32 with just over 4 minutes left before halftime. The Wizards again responded with a 15-8 stretch to end the quarter and take a 50-40 lead into the locker room. Thomas, McRae, and Smith all had 11 points for the home team at halftime and combined for 33 of the 51 Washington points.
The second half started with more of the same as Thomas and McRae combined for the first 7 Wizards points and it was 58-47 with 3 minutes gone by in the quarter. Daniel Theis free throws and back to back Jayson Tatum buckets quickly brought the Celtics back within 5, 58-53, with 7:58 left in the 3rd quarter. Tatum’s baskets brought him to 15 points on the night, 9 of which had come in the first 4:02 of the second half, and the Celtics had opened up the half with a 13-7 run of their own. With 4:37 to go in the quarter, the Wizards had managed to tread water behind Thomas’ 17 points, but their lead was down to 4, 63-59. Tremont Waters’ first points of the ninth, two free throws brought Boston within 2, 63-61 before Troy Brown, Jr’s D…C…Three and McRae’s And-1 minus the free throw pushed the Washington lead back to 7, 68-61, with 3:38 left in the quarter. Over the final 3:38 however, the Celtics went on an 11-6 run and after three quarters, the Wizards’ lead was down to 74-72.
After trading baskets to start the 4th, Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer with 8:00 to play tied the game at 80-80 for the first time since 2-2. Washington then did what it had done all night and answered the bell with back to back buckets and took an 84-80 lead into the timeout with 7:09 left in regulation. Ish Smith put on a show in the 4th quarter to carry the Wizards, scoring 14 of his game-high 27 points in the final stanza.
Despite the Wizards being the home team, it was a pro-Boston crowd at Capital One Arena Monday night, one that chanted “De-Fense…De-Fense” as the Wizards had the ball up 4 in the final minutes. The hometown fans showed their presence, however, chanting “M-V-P” as Ish Smith toed the line for free throws in the final seconds. In the end, the Boston “faithful” in DC could not will their team to victory on the road, as the Wizards took down the Celtics by a final score of 99-94.
Ish Smith’s 27 Powers Wiz Past Celtics, 99-94 was originally published on theteam980.com
