Boston Celtics (20-5) vs. Washington Wizards (3-19) Game #26 12/15/24

The Celtics will look for their second straight win when they take on the Wizards in Washington. This is the third of four games between these two teams this season. The Celtics defeated the Wizards 122-102 in Washington in the second game of the season. They also defeated them 108-96 on November 22nd, also in Washington. They will play each other for the fourth and final time on April 6th in Boston. The Celtics won the series 4-0 last season. The Celtics have a record of 204-120 overall and a record of 98-76 in Washington.

The Celtics are in 2nd place in the East, 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and 4 games ahead of the third-place Orlando Magic. They are 9-2 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 18-3 against Eastern Conference opponents and looking for their second straight win. The Wizards are in 15th place in the East, 17.5 games behind Cleveland. They are 2-9 at home and 1-9 in their last 10 games. They are 2-13 against Eastern Conference teams.

During the offseason, the Wizards added three first-round picks from this year’s draft: 2nd pick Alex Sarr, 14th pick Carlton “Bub” Carrington and 24th pick Kyshawn George. They also added key veterans Jonas Valenciunas, former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon, Saddiq Bey and Anthony Gill. They also traded Deni Avdija and lost Tyus Jones to free agency. The Celtics, as we know, are basically the same team as last year’s championship team.

The Celtics have just completed a difficult stretch of 5 games in 7 nights, but have only played one game since Saturday 12/7, when they took a 5-game series after the first 4 home games against Miami, Detroit, Milwaukee and Memphis. Home stand finished stand. They meet on December 19th. at home on Chicago and at Chicago in a home-and-home game. They then travel to Orlando before another four-game homestand where they face Philadelphia, Indiana twice and Toronto.

The Wizards play the first of two home games and face the Charlotte Hornets next at home on December 19th. They then play in Milwaukee and Oklahoma City before a four-game homestand against Charlotte, the New York Knicks twice and Chicago on New Year’s Day. This game was added for both the Celtics and Wizards after both teams failed to advance in the Emirates NBA Cup tournament.

After sitting out the Celtics’ last game against the Pistons due to knee pain, Jayson Tatum is expected to return to action in this game. Sam Hauser, who sat out Thursday’s win over the Pistons, is also expected to play for this game. Jaden Springer, who missed the game due to illness, is also not currently included on the injury report. The only player listed on the injury report is Al Horford, who will be rested in this game despite having only played one game in the seven days prior to this game.

The Wizards have 6 players on their injury report. Kyle Kuzma is out with a rib injury. Malcolm Brogdon is out with a hamstring injury. Saddiq Bey is out with a knee injury. Corey Kispert is out with an ankle injury. and two-way player Tristan Vukcevic is out with a knee injury. Justin Champagnie, another two-way player and former Celtic, starts in place of the injured Kyle Kuzma.

Likely Celtics starters

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Celtics reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Sam Hauser
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh

2-way player
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/losses
Al Horford (break) is out

Head coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely Wizards starters

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Wizard Reserves
Marvin Bagley III
Patrick Baldwin, Jr
Johnny Davis
Anthony Gill
Richaun Holmes
Jonas Valanciunas

2-way player
Jared Butler
Justin Champagne
Tristan Vukcevic

Injuries/losses
Saddiq Bey (knee) is out
Tristan Vukcevic (knee) is out
Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring injury) is out
Kyshawn George (ankle) is out
Corey Kispert (ankle) is out
Kyle Kuzma (ribs) is out

Head coach
Brian Keefe

Key Matches

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  Derrick White
  
  

  Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
  

• 

  Jordan Poole
  
  

  Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
  

Derrick White vs. Jordan Poole
Poole is averaging 20.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He is shooting 43.5% from the field and 40% from distance. In the first two games against the Celtics, Poole averaged 24.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from distance. The Celtics need to stick with him on the perimeter as he is a threat to hit his threes. He’s also a threat to steal the ball if the Celtics get sloppy.

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  Jaylen Brown
  
  

  Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images
  

• 

  Bilal Coulibaly
  
  

  Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
  

Jaylen Brown vs. Bilal Coulibaly
Coulibaly is averaging 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shoots 44.3% from the field and 30.4% from distance. In the first two games against the Celtics, he averaged 7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 27.3% from the field and 16.7% from distance. The Celtics will have to defend him well again in this game.

Honorable mention
Kristaps Porzingis vs. Alex Sarr
Sarr is averaging 10.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks. He shoots 39.3% from the field and 26.1% from distance. In the first two games against the Celtics, he averaged 4.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 blocks while shooting 25% from the field and making no 3-pointers. Porzingis hasn’t played in either of the first two games against his former team and will therefore likely look to give a little more in this game.

Key to the game
defense – Defense is always the key to victory. The Celtics won their championship last season with tough, physical defense. To reiterate, you need to prioritize defense once again. The Celtics are 9th with a defensive rating of 110.3, while the Wizards are 29th with a defensive rating of 119.0. The Celtics were first in the league in defense last season and will have to rely on the strong lock-down defense in every game this season. The Celtics in particular have to defend the paint, as the Wizards are not a particularly great 3-point shooting team and the Celtics are 25th, allowing 51.5 points per game in the paint.

rebound – The Celtics are 14th with 44.0 rebounds per game, while the Wizards are 22nd with 42.9 rebounds per game. Last season, the Celtics were second with 46.7 rebounds per game and had essentially the same roster. It’s important for the Celtics to recover to gain more possession and limit their opponents’ possession. A big part of rebounding involves effort and hustle, and when the Celtics put in extra effort and hustle on the boards, it usually affects the rest of their game. Each player must commit to crashing the boards and chasing every rebound at both ends of the pitch.

Don’t underestimate – This is probably the biggest trap game of the season for the Celtics. The Wizards are last in the league and are missing starters and rotation players. This has been a recipe for disaster for the Celtics in the past. The Celtics can’t take the Wizards for granted, even though they’re obviously slacking and missing players. Even tank teams want to beat the Celtics. The Wizards 3 wins came twice against the Hawks and the Nuggets, both good teams. The Celtics need to take the Wizards seriously and play them like they are the top team in the league.

Maximum effort for 48 minutes – The Celtics’ losses this season have been due to a lack of effort. Sometimes it also seems that they either start slowly and end up in a hole that they have to work their way out of, or that they build a lead only to slow down in the second half and allow their opponent to get back into the hole close it. The Celtics will have to play hard again on both ends of the court for 48 minutes without letting up.

X factors
On the go and focused – The Celtics are playing away again after five home games. You must overcome the distractions that come with gaming on the go, such as travel, hotel stays, missing family members, an unfamiliar building, and a hostile crowd. They need to stay focused on playing Celtics basketball the right way, not the Pistons’ record or missing players.

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