Post Game - Celtics vs. Washington Wizards - Friday, February 9 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585371

From another perspective:


Tatum scores 35 points and Celtics ride 3rd-quarter rally to beat Wizards 133-129 for 40th win

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/2024/02/09/wizards-celtics-score-tatum/66746bc6-c7c2-11ee-bbc9-9b5ca9b20779_story.html


By Kyle Hightower | AP
February 9, 2024 at 10:18 p.m. EST




BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 35 points and sparked a third-quarter rally to help the NBA-leading Boston Celtics get their 40th win of the season, 133-129 over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Kristaps Porzingis added 34 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics (40-12), who reached 40 victories the fastest in a season since the 2008-09 squad did it in 49 games. It was Tatum’s 20th game this season in which he scored 30 or more points.

Deni Avdija had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Corey Kispert also scored 24 for the Wizards, who have lost five straight. Bilal Coulibaly finished with 21 points.

The Wizards stayed in it for most of the night, going 20 of 47 from the 3-point line. Washington led by as many as eight in the third quarter and closed within 131-127 in the final minute. But Boston was able to close it out at the foul line.

Trailing by six at the half, Boston opened the third quarter on a 15-8 run and regained the lead at 79-78 with a 3 by Porzingis. The flurry included a driving one-handed dunk by Tatum over Kyle Kuzma.

They were two of Tatum’s 13 points in the quarter as the Celtics outscored the Wizards 36-16, held Washington to 7-of-22 shooting from the field and forced six turnovers to take a 100-87 lead into the fourth.

It erased what started out as a promising night for the Wizards.

Washington led 71-64 at halftime, getting 19 points from Poole and 26 fast-break points against the NBA’s top-rated defense. Boston entered the night allowing opponents only 13.6 fast break points per game.

Poole’s burst came just a game after he was held scoreless for the first time since 2021.

The Celtics went 4 for 19 from 3-point range in the half. They shot just 11 of 24 from the field in the second quarter, with seven of their 13 missed field goals coming inside the paint.

UP NEXT

Wizards: Host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Celtics: At the Miami Heat on Sunday.

Celtics vs. Wizards takeaways: Tatum, Porzingis dominate to prevent upset

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-vs-wizards-takeaways-tatum-032524063.html

Justin Leger
Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 10:32 PM EST·5 min read




Celtics vs. Wizards takeaways: Tatum, Porzingis dominate to prevent upset originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum take over
Payton Pritchard provides a spark
Lost in transition

In a true tale of two halves, the Boston Celtics earned a comeback victory over one of the worst teams in the NBA on Friday night.

The C's looked sluggish for much of the first half vs. the Washington Wizards, particularly on the defensive end. They allowed the 9-41 Wizards to score 71 points through the first two frames. Meanwhile, they had an uncharacteristically difficult time shooting the 3-ball, going just 4-for-19 from beyond the arc.

As Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe noted, Washington is one of only three teams to score 70 or more first-half points against Boston this season.



Whatever C's head coach Joe Mazzulla said at halftime, it resonated. The Celtics erupted for 36 points in the third quarter while limiting the Wizards to 16, turning a seven-point halftime deficit into a 13-point lead.

It got dicey in the fourth -- Washington cut the deficit to four with 42 points in the quarter -- but Boston escaped with a 133-129 win.

Jayson Tatum (35 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (34 points) were the stars for the C's. Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown added 20 and 18 points, respectively.

Corey Kispert dropped a team-high 24 points in 24 minutes for the Wizards. Deni Avdija also notched 24 while Jordan Poole contributed 19 -- all scored in the first half.

We didn't see Celtics trade deadline additions Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer due to minor injuries, but they could make their C's debuts as soon as Sunday. Their presence should give a well-timed boost to Boston's defense.

With their seven-game homestand in the books, the C's (40-12) will head down to Miami for a Sunday showdown with the Heat (28-24). First, here are our takeaways from Friday's game.

Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum take over

This game was trending in the wrong direction until Tatum and Porzingis took matters into their own hands. The duo was too much for Washington to handle over four quarters.

Tatum led the Celtics with 18 points in the first half, 13 of them coming in the second quarter. He picked up where he left off in the third, dropping another 13 points to nearly outscore the entire Wizards team in the frame.

Warning: annoying music track on this video:



Tatum ended up with a game-high 35 points on 12-of-22 shooting (3-10 3-PT). The five-time All-Star pulled down 10 rebounds and just missed a triple-double with eight assists. He added two blocks and a steal in what was an all-around stellar performance to help prevent the upset on his home court.

As great as Tatum was, the Celtics wouldn't have held off the Wizards without Porzingis. The Latvian big man went off against his former team, going for 16 points in the first half and finding another gear in the third quarter, when he scored 14 more.



Porzingis did work on both ends as he had a double-double by the end of the third quarter. He finished with 35 points (9-18 FG, 2-4 3-PT) and 11 rebounds. He also was a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line to set a new career-high.

That's now three consecutive games in which Porzingis has been sensational. He tallied 26 points vs. Memphis and 31 vs. Atlanta before Friday night and shot at least 50 percent from the floor in all three outings.

Think he took his All-Star snub personally?

Payton Pritchard provides a spark

Pritchard gave the Celtics an energy boost when they needed it most. The fourth-year guard got his team and the TD Garden crowd into it when he drilled a buzzer-beater half-court heave to end the first quarter.

He almost gave the home crowd an encore at the end of the third, making another half-court shot at the buzzer before the officials waved it off. The ball left his hand just milliseconds after the buzzer sounded.

Still, it made for a memorable moment and an impressive highlight.



Pritchard did more than just heave it from halfcourt. He provided the C's valuable minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points (eight in second half) on 4-of-7 shooting and bringing down six boards. Most importantly, he gave his team life when it seemed lifeless against one of the worst teams in the league.

Lost in transition

The Celtics looked lackadaisical on defense for much of the night, particularly in transition. They allowed a whopping 18 fastbreak points in the first quarter alone.

To put that number in perspective, Boston averages 13.6 fastbreak points allowed and Washington averages 16.9 fastbreak points scored per game.

Boston let up an alarming 36 transition points in total, putting its defensive effort in question in what should have been a breeze of a game. With only four games remaining until the All-Star break, it's fair to wonder whether the Celtics simply lost focus against an inferior opponent.

They will need to regain that focus on Sunday when they visit the Heat, then maintain it when they face two more losing teams in the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls before the All-Star break.

Well shouldn’t complain we have the best record in the league, but not the most enjoyable game to watch and against a bottom dweller. Gave up 71 points at the half, behind by 8, not good. 36-16 3rd quarter, then gave up an unbelievable 45 points to Wiz in 4th and held onto win despite the onslaught by them. Joe was pissed a few times in the game. I put the lackluster effort on the players, they didn’t play hard enough throughout and turned it on for one quarter. I guess they plan on turning it up during playoffs, hopefully they can. Glad we have 2 new players with defensive reputations coming aboard, we really need it….

Once again, lack of focus cost the team the ability to defend consistently and close out an inferior opponent. Opportunities to open and maintain separation were missed and The Wiz were in it to the end. The only way this disturbing trend ends is the rotation players make the adjustment between their ears now, during the season’s second half. Waking up during a seven game series is too late. If I was coaching this group I’d be hitting my head against a wall.

Beyond that….

Chiefs by 6 but I’m rooting for the 49ers.

Pitchers and Catchers report this week. Spring is on the way.

We are definitely in a mid season funk. Maybe playing half a game with the right intensity and focus. Can't really blame the players, all star break is much needed.

I like Luke Kornet, he's done some nice things this year, but how many times do we need to see him get beat off the dribble by quicker bigs? I guess Joe had no choice but to play him last night. However, I am really looking forward to seeing what Tillman can do in the same situations.

There are no good losses and there are no bad wins!

The Celtics reached the 40 win mark and have won 8 out of 10.  That is a pretty good stretch.

With 30 games remaining in the regular season the Celtics are well positioned to maintain their edge.   There will be tough games ahead because they will play 17 on the road but only 13 at home.  I have great confidence that the team will do well.  Can they go at least 20-10 the rest of the way?  I think so.

At times we look at the Celtics in a vacuum and in that mindset we forget that every team is going through ups and downs.  The Celtics have not always played excellent basketball but excellence should be defined by winning or losing.  I would prefer to see Boston win an ugly game against a team like the Wizards than to lose that game.

One of the more exciting aspects of what is in front of us is the addition of 2 respected defensive players.  

Defense wins championships.

Our defense has waned a bit because playing great defense is the biggest physical and mental challenge of the game.  Game in and game out  NBA teams have a big red circle around a matchup with the Celtics.  That is the way it is suppose to be and only truly elite teams can beat those teams that bring their A game to the court.  Now it is up to CJ to figure out how to get the most out of roster that has added more defense to the mix.

Crashing the boards after missed shots leaves you vulnerable to fast breaks. It's always a dillema. Brad emphasized getting back. Ime put a little more focus on offensive rebounding, and Joe seems to lean a little more that way. We all love it when PP grabs those offensive rebounds, but if he doesn't secure them, it's tough to get back. When JT makes ( or misses) a layup and hits the deck, it's 5 on 4 the other way. Sometimes Peter is robbed to pay Paul.Fortunately, the best running teams are in the West.

The Celtics half court defense is still superior.Holiday's propensity for setting up deep in the paint makes it a longer run to get back on D. He creates mismatches on offense and is a brilliannt half court defender, but sometimes you give up something to get something. Missed threes and long rebounds are a problem too. I think assistant coach Charies Lee identified the most fixable problem. Pick up higher and challenge the three point shooters and the other team is the one that needs to worrry about getting back. As for focus, it is a tough league, everybody can play, and it is a long and grueling season.The players are human. Expecting them to play with great intensity every minute of 82 games, often with minor injuries, seems a little much to me. What I want to see is how they perform in the playoffs , when the pressure is really on.

Great game from two of our studs.  We are very fortunate with this team.  At least 4 of our starting 6 can have games like KP and JT did at anytime on demand.  That's ridiculous, Gus.    

I'm willing to look passed the last few minutes of this game given that the Celtics had this one in hand.  They let the foot off the gas and I'm going to surmise they started looking ahead to today.  Usually, this occurs in a negative context in that a team "looks ahead" to the next game and forgets the team they are playing and loses this first game.  

Boston needs to continue to punish MIA and anything Pat Riley with minion Eric Spoelstra.  So if we were looking ahead to today, in this instance, I'm cool with it.  Now if we come out and lay a MIL or Clipper egg, then we're having a completely different conversation come Monday morning.  But if we come out today and take care of business and crush the teams were supposed to crush, then all is well.

I hope I see some dang zone from MIA.  The whole game wouldn't hurt us nor disappoint me one bit.  Plus my favorite camera pan to a completely defeated and surrendering Pat Riley never hurts either heading into the Super Bowl.  

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