Celtics came-out of the gate on fire tonight. KG was hitting shots early & often, the defense was focused & guys had a spring in their step. Rajon was distributing the ball well from the jump- he had 5 assists in the first quarter alone to help get the C’s out to an early 26-12 lead after 1.
The Wizards bench then got Washington right back into it behind Kevin Seraphin’s 10 pts on 5 for 5 shooting in the 2nd quarter. 20 of the Wizards’ 30 2nd quarter points came from their reserves. Despite losing some of the defensive intensity we saw in the 1st quarter, Boston went into the half with a 49-42 lead.
Celtics continued to play well in the 3rd. Until about the 3:10 mark. The Wizards bench players took over again, namely Kevin Seraphin & Jordan Crawford, and ended the 3rd on a 13-4 run. Washington was hanging around, and the C’s clung to a 71-67 lead entering the final quarter.
The 4th was ugly. Both teams mustered up 2 points a piece through the 9:51 mark. Then, Jeff Green & Truth hit back-to-back 3’s to get the Celtics up by 11, 81-70. But the Wiz would not go away. Washington eventually took the lead late in the game, but The Captain buried a three with 2:34 left and the C’s would hold-on, barely, to get the 89-86 win. KG’s defense in the final 2 minutes and Pierce’s 8 4th quarter points were the difference. A win is a win they say, but this was not pretty folks.
Rajon had a double-double of 12 pts. & 12 asts. Pierce led all scorers with 27 and Courtney Lee struggled-he was 0 of 4 from downtown & finished w/4 pts in 29 minutes. Jeff Green looked a bit better, dropping in 11 pts in 16 minutes. C’s now have 3 days off before facing the Wiz again at the Garden on Wednesday.
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