Per usual, the Boston Celtics had us yelling, cursing & sweating in the 4th quarter, but eventually they did put away the Wizards at TD Garden. The C’s spoiled Paul Pierce’s homecoming with a 101-93 victory this afternoon.
The Wizards could not hit the broad side of a barn for most of the first three quarters, while the Celtics shot lights out through much of the contest. Boston jumped out to a 53-36 lead at halftime, and shot 48% in the 1st Q, while going 40% in the 2nd. Meanwhile, Washington struggled mightily on the offensive end, shooting 31% for the half and their 12 turnovers just compounded things. Rajon Rondo looked crisp, and did a nice job both scoring and setting guys up.
The C’s continued to cruise through the 3rd, as Jeff Green carried the load. Green was extremely aggressive, scoring 11 of his 25 points in the frame. Boston headed into the 4th quarter up comfortably 77-59.
Then, as we all knew they would, the Wizards made their run-or, the Celts began to wilt-probably a little of both. After Rasual Butler made his third trey in a row to make it 80-68 with 10:33 left in the game, a gentleman sitting to my left said “here it comes…”. And come it did. A collective groan, with screams of “CLOSE IT OUT!!” rang through our section at TD Garden. Old friend Paul Pierce would then drain two bombs of his own, and after another three from Butler (14 fourth quarter points!) at the 2:50 mark, the lead was down to one. It was 92-91 Boston. But the C’s were not done. A huge three by Avery Bradley with 0:37 left had the Celts back up 97-93, and then a Rondo steal & Green layup sealed the deal. This was a big confidence boost for this young squad. Another blown 20+ point lead would’ve been a collective kick in the nuts to this team’s already fragile mental state. A nice win at home for the C’s today, despite them almost choking it away. Paul Pierce scored 16 pts in what was his only trip to Boston this season. Rasual Butler scored 22 points, including 6 of 10 from trey, to lead the Wiz.
Boston now heads to D.C. for the tail end of the home-and-home tomorrow. Tip-off is at 7pm EST.
The Green:
- A triple-double of 13 points, 13 rebounds & 11 assists for Rondo. He also had 3 steals, 2 of them coming in the final minute & a half of the game.
- Jeff Green put in 25 points and also had 3 rebs & 4 stls
- Marcus Thornton was a beast off the bench. Thornton’s 21 points came in 17 minutes and he was 3 of 4 from downtown
The Gross:
- Boston’s perimeter defense struggled. Mightily at times. It seemed like just one open three after another for the Wizards.
The Greenlights:
Rondo Triple Double:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LXQwP3l3sY
Condensed Version of Game via CELTICSLOWDOWN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qREmcINtFc
CSNNE Pierce Retrospective:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvEd-oqIn1s
The Grid:(quick stats)
- Rebounds: Wiz 52 Celtics 49
- Celtics outscored Wizards in paint 36-28
It was great to see and spend time with some of our readers and Celtics Twitter fam today! Great to see you all…
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
