20160125-BOSWAS

Marc D'Amico

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Boston and Washington were neck-and-neck through nearly three quarters of play Monday night in our nation’s Capital.  The Celtics, however, used the final three minutes of the third period to take a commanding lead it would never relinquish.

Less than three minutes remained in the third period when Kelly Olynyk splashed home one of his two 3-pointers on the night to bump Boston’s lead from five up to eight.  He, Marcus Smart, Evan Turner and Isaiah Thomas would go on to rack up a 12-3 run overall to end the third.

Olynyk added three free throws after his trey, while Smart and Turner each dropped in a finger roll layup.  Thomas, meanwhile, connected on a step-back jumper from 18 feet to close out the quarter’s scoring and give Boston an 84-70 lead.

During that stretch, the Wizards couldn’t get anything going when the ball was in their hands.  They shot just 1-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line, all while committing two turnovers.

Remember, this all happened in less than three minutes.  Boston caught fire, Washington went cold, and the C’s ran away with a breezy win for the second time in as many nights.

Nothing about Monday night’s game in Washington, D.C. came as a surprise.  Not the fact that the Boston Celtics crushed the Washington Wizards (they’ve now done that three times this season during a season sweep), and certainly not that Isaiah Thomas was the best player on the court.

Thomas was a dominant force when these teams met on Jan. 16 in this very arena, when the C’s won 119-117.  That night, he scored 32 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

The likely All-Star didn’t quite match that scoring total Monday night, but that’s because he enjoyed this win from the sideline for the entire fourth quarter.

Thomas dropped a game-high 23 points to go along with a team-high nine assists.  He was incredibly efficient, nailing eight of his 14 shots, including two of his three 3s, and also connected on all five of his free throws.

There’s no doubt that the 5-foot-9 sparkplug would have notched a double-double that included 30-plus points had this game been competitive in the fourth.  However, he did his work early on and was able to enjoy the final quarter while rooting on his teammates.

None of that should come as a surprise to anyone.

Isaiah Thomas on winning back-to-back games during a crazy travel schedule caused by Winter Storm Jonas.

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 116, Wizards 91

Pete Stringer

photos-celtics-at-wizards-jan-25-2016

Photos: Celtics at Wizards - Jan. 25, 2016

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).

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DraftKings Post-Ups: C's Look To Slow Down Wall

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Everybody was moving a little slower Monday night in Washington, D.C. John Wall, despite his game-changing speed, was no exception.

The Celtics’ defense submitted their third consecutive strong performance, leading to their third consecutive victory, a 116-91 win over the Wizards. The Celtics, now 25-21, kept the Wizards in a half-court game, keeping Wall under wraps and Washington out of their transition-based attack.

“We focused on getting a body on him and making them score in the half-court,” Jae Crowder said. “Take the transition out of the game.”

Before the game, Brad Stevens was clear with the media about the Celtics needing to stop Wall, and his team delivered.  Apparently the message got through to his troops as well.  The goal was to cut the Wizards’ transition points from the previous game against the Celtics “in half,” as multiple players referenced that data point after the game.

Marcus Smart referred to it as “cutting off the head of the snake,” and to that end, Washington’s point guard hit just one of his first six shots.  Wall had only three points at halftime.

Of course, at halftime, it was still very much a game, and the Wizards led by seven points at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter. Things changed drastically in the second half.

“You almost have to adjust as time is going on, and you have to see their speed and feel their speed to adjust to it,” Stevens said.

When the final box score was printed, Wall had registered just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. The Wizards finished with just 16 fast break points.

Once again, the Celtics took great care of the basketball, committing only 11 turnovers to the Wizards’ 20, and as such, enjoyed many more offensive possessions. Given that the Celtics shot nearly 50 percent, the Wizards had few opportunities to turn up the pressure and get out and run.

“Everybody was so locked in and engaged, it was evident on the court,” Crowder said after his 11-point, five-rebound effort.

Including Crowder, six Celtics scored in double-figures, led by Isaiah Thomas’ 23 points. But contributions were made pretty much across the board, and the Celtics played one of their more complete games of the season. The ball was moving around, as to which 31 assists will attest, and the Celtics knocked down nine 3-pointers, which really helped to give them separation in the second half.

With back-to-back blowout wins under their belts after an odd stretch of travel on a road trip, the Celtics flew back to Boston four games over .500. After three solid wins, they’re playing perhaps their best basketball of the season to date.

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C's Stall Wall, Sweep Wiz

Taylor Snow

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Here are five things to watch out for when the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards meet at 7 p.m. tonight at Verizon Center.

It’s been quite some time since the Boston Celtics have been on an offensive tear like the one they are currently experiencing.

The C’s have scored at least 100 points during each of their last eight games, which is the first time in 10 seasons that they have done so during the regular season.

Boston should have no problem reaching the 100-point mark again tonight against a Wizards team that is surrendering the second most points per game in the East (103.8 PPG). If it does, it will be the first time since the 1996-97 campaign that it reached that plateau in nine consecutive regular season games.

That 1996-97 version of the Celtics scored at least 100 points in 10 straight games; amazingly, they lost nine of those.  The C’s of now, on the other hand, are not putting their high-scoring efforts to waste, as they have won five of their last seven.

The Wizards are in the midst of a magical offensive stretch as well, having scored at least 100 points during six of their last seven contests. That span included a 117-point effort against the Celtics on Jan. 16, though Boston’s offense ousted them in that game with 119 points of its own.

The Wizards bring an incredibly well-balanced scoring attack to the table. They have six players averaging in double figures this season, led by John Wall (19.9 PPG) and Bradley Beal (19.2 PPG).

Beal was absent from Washington’s recent 117-point effort against the C’s. He has missed 17 of Washington’s last 21 games with a lower leg injury, but he should be good to go tonight.

During Beal’s month-long absence, Wall has kept Washington’s ship steady.

The point guard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December, when he posted averages of 22.6 points, 11.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.

Wall hasn’t been too shabby in January, either. He nearly posted a quadruple-double when he faced the C’s on Jan. 16. He tallied 36 points that night, along with 13 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals, for arguably the best all-around performance of his six-year career.

Well-Rested Wizards vs. a Busy Boston Team

Wall and the Wizards have one factor in their favor tonight: they have extremely fresh legs.

Washington hasn’t hit the hardwood since Wednesday, when it ousted the Miami Heat, 106-87, on its home court. The Wizards were scheduled to host Utah on Saturday, but Winter Storm Jonas caused that game to be postponed to a later date.

The blizzard impacted Boston’s schedule as well, but to a different effect. The C’s were scheduled to play Saturday in Philadelphia, but that game was pushed to Sunday due to the weather. Now, instead of having a day of rest heading into tonight’s game, Boston will be on the tail end of a back-to-back.

This will mark Boston’s second road-road back-to-back of the season; it is 2-0 during second games in that scenario.

Rested or not, Washington has not had any success against the Celtics this season. Boston has had its number with a 3-0 series advantage and has an average margin of victory of 18.3 points.

Prior to Boston’s two-point win in D.C. on Jan. 16, it had blown out the Wizards twice at home – 118-98 on Nov. 6 and 111-78 on Nov. 27.

Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger and Jae Crowder in particular have had their way against Washington this season, averaging a combined 57.7 PPG.

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Watch It! – Celtics at Wizards

The Boston Celtics have had the Washington Wizards' number this season, and the last meeting featured an incident that could be revisited when these teams complete the season series.

Celtics forward Jae Crowder claimed that Wizards coach Randy Wittman cursed at him the last time these teams met heading into Monday night's matchup that is still in some doubt due to the massive snowstorm that blanketed the nation's capital.

Boston (24-21) can complete a four-game sweep of Washington after winning 119-117 on the road Jan. 16, in a game overshadowed by an incident between Crowder and Wittman.

The Celtics held a four-point lead with 22 seconds left and the Wizards' John Wall at the line for three free throws. Wall missed his first attempt before referee Tony Brothers whistled Crowder for a technical foul.

Crowder immediately pointed toward Wittman while arguing with Brothers, and later told reporters Wittman was on the other end of those remarks.

"I feel like he was getting away with a lot of curse words and inappropriate words to me, and I retaliated and I got hit," Crowder said. "Tony said he didn't hear anything from Wittman. I'm not going to outburst on a coach and say something like that for no reason."

Wittman had already spoken to the media that night and said in subsequent days that he yelled at Crowder, but denied using curse words. Crowder said that he was arguing with Washington's Nene before he got involved with Wittman.

"He (Wittman) was saying something about me being soft and bleep, bleep, bleep hitting me on the John Wall foul," Crowder said. "It's new to me. I understand we play them next week. I honestly don't know where it was coming from."

Crowder had 22 points on a night that the star for Boston was Isaiah Thomas, who scored 32 after totaling 37 in the first two meetings as the Celtics won by an average of 26.5 points.

The last matchup was much closer thanks to Wall, who had a season-high 36 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. Wall has a team-high six technical fouls.

"I think there was a lot of woofing going on throughout the whole game," Wall said. "I'm just trying to compete and I didn't want to get another technical. I got enough this year."

Washington (20-21) may be disadvantaged since it hasn't played since a 106-87 win over Miami on Wednesday. The club practiced Friday before its game the next day against Utah was postponed due to the storm.

Boston may be sharper after crushing Philadelphia 112-92 on Sunday in a game pushed back one day because of the weather. Thomas and Crowder each scored 20 points as the Celtics led by as many as 29.

"I thought our guys were pretty locked in today," coach Brad Stevens said. "We talked about playing with force all day, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that."

The Celtics arrived at Philadelphia on Sunday morning after the city's airport was closed the previous day.

"Obviously, that wasn't ideal but I thought our guys were businesslike in our approach," Stevens said.

The Wizards' Otto Porter could return from a four-game absence due to a hip injury while fellow forward Drew Gooden might play for the first time in four games after being out with a calf issue.

20160125‑BOSWAS

Keys to the Game: Celtics 116, Wizards 91

Photos: Celtics at Wizards - Jan. 25, 2016

DraftKings Post-Ups: C's Look To Slow Down Wall

C's Stall Wall, Sweep Wiz

Watch It! – Celtics at Wizards

1/25 Game Preview: Celtics at Wizards