This game sucked. Really sucked. I don’t think its badness will linger, but…damn.
THE GAME FLOW
If nothing else, Game 3 didn’t begin in complete misery for Boston as was the case in the first two contests. Washington held it down, to be sure, but they were faced with actual competition in this game’s first quarter. But not as much as necessary. The Celtics managed to fall for the Wizards’ admirable facility at engendering turnovers, loose ball fouls, frustration fouls and violations, et. al.–and then any semblance of competition dissipated.
Only Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley managed to score for Boston (mostly Crowder) in Q1 until Isaiah Thomas and Jonas Jerebko got a few at the line and Marcus Smart snuck a floater in from the post just before the buzzer. Things didn’t look much better as the second quarter got running, and a brief shoving match between Ian Mahinmi and Jerebko, of all people, was the absurdist masterpiece of this series’ chippiness…
…until an awkward excessive-force screen set by Kelly Olynyk on Kelly Oubre earned him a haymaker from the younger, more fashionable man. The conflict ending with Oubre’s ejection and an offensive foul on Olynyk is remarkable–it was approaching Rick-Mahorn-battling-the-entire-Bulls territory when Crowder started shoving D.C. assistant coaches. The Celtics didn’t manage to capitalize on the discombobulation the delay might’ve caused, and Porter’s shooting streak continued in ridiculous fashion, taking the lead as high as 26 points.
Only the last third of Q2 saw any real life from Boston, as Brad Stevens had them using high-pressure defensive traps to force turnovers and transition into made threes on the other end. But Washington’s size and shooting wasn’t going to be denied easily, and they took a brutal 63-40 advantage into halftime.
The Wizards weren’t liable to keep shooting 53 percent, but when you’re in a 23-point hole as the Celtics were as the second half started, that’s cold comfort. Boston did show considerably greater defensive muscle, but it wasn’t turning into any significant scoring. Washington wasn’t defending or scoring particularly well–at least not considering how lights-out their first half was–but they could afford to lose a few. Eight minutes in, and it was still a 23-point Wiz lead.
What even is there to say about the rest of the third? The established patterns continued and Washington’s lead finally reached 30, as it had threatened to do all damn night. I’m surprised I haven’t just called an autopsy on this ish and dug back into my book (To Die in California, an excellent unsung 70s crime story by Newton Thornburg). The Cs would have a moment here and there in the quarter that looked like it could be the beginning of something, but the Wiz never failed to answer it.
Stevens effectively conceded the 4th quarter by sitting every one of his starters. That more or less killed the possibility of reportable events. Or so I thought, but then Terry Rozier and Brandon Jennings decided to get into it. A series of shoves, shit-talking and technical fouls ensued, including one on Stevens. (Which is, I believe, only Brad’s 5th career tech, including one in the preseason of his rookie year at the helm and one ejection.)
There’s really nothing else to say about this game. The Wizards roasted the Celtics on both ends for an entire half and made it so their so-so/kinda bad second half didn’t matter.
Everything. But since I sorta defended Kelly Olynyk last game, I’ll lambaste him tonight for doing another irresponsible thing, this one bordering on if not quite meeting full criteria for “dirty.” He didn’t deserve what he got, but should he be surprised? I’m not gonna miss him and think this basically guaranteed his departure from the team.
KELLY OUBRE! pic.twitter.com/AVo82dyPiH
— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) May 5, 2017
I’m going to eschew Red’s Cigar and Daily Awesome Isaiah Thing because they don’t seem appropriate.
This one sucked, y’all.
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