Monday, January 25 - Celtics vs. Wizards
Pregame - Like the Snow, C's Need to Slow Down Wall
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After blowing out the Sixers in a near-empty gym in Philadelphia Sunday night, the Celtics are likely to see a similar environment tonight in the Nation’s Capital. Nearly 18 inches of snow fell in the D.C. area, and many neighborhoods are still digging out.
The Verizon Center was oddly quiet for pregame, with fewer bodies roaming the hallways and no music emanating from the court area as players warmed up around 5:30 p.m. Winter storm Jonas’ aftermath was still very much in effect on Monday as the Mid-Atlantic region continued to pave the roads and recover from the blizzard.
Wizards point guard John Wall told the Washington Post that it took him two hours to get to the arena for today’s shootaround, and given his commuting woes, it’s reasonable to believe that few fans are going to be willing to make the trek on a Monday night. It may be too much to ask fans to brave sloppy roads on a Monday night to see the Wizards play a Celtics team that’s already beaten them three times this season. And if you’re a displaced Celtics fan looking for a slice of New England, the green team was just here nine days ago, when they edged the Wizards in a thriller.
But even if it is a ���friends and family” crowd tonight, that won’t change the Celtics’ approach to the game. While snow may have slowed Wall on his morning commute, Celtics Coach Brad Stevens knows the speedy point guard won’t have any troubles commuting down the court in transition if given the opportunity.
“The biggest thing when you’re playing these guys is that you’ve got to handle the ball, and you’ve got to take good shots. If they get out ahead of your defense, there’s not much you can do to stop him from getting where he wants to go,” Stevens said.
“That was the case the other day. He got a few in transition, and then he made all of those pull-ups. You have to pick your poison a little bit with all of those,” Stevens said. “As he continues to grow and get better as a player, that’s been a huge thing for him.”
One thing that hasn’t been huge for Washington is home court. The Wizards are just one game under .500 at 20-21, but the odd thing is, they have a better record on the road (10-8) than they do at the Verizon Center (10-13). They’re actually one of four teams in the East who having winning road records.
The other three? Toronto (14-9), Cleveland, (14-9) and Boston (12-11).
- Peter Stringer