Statistically, the Boston Celtics were the worst No. 1 seed in the last 38 years. And then they lost their first two playoff games at home.
But four straight wins have the Celtics in the conference semifinals for the first time under Brad Stevens. And here they’ll meet a team with which they’ve developed a little bit of a rivalry.
The Washington Wizards are back in the conference semifinals for the second time in three years. Like the Celtics, they struggled a bit against a lesser team in the first round, but took care of business in Game 6 on the road.
The home team won all four regular season meetings between the Celtics and Wizards, two teams led by All-Star point guards who are very different in the way they play and drive their team.
Celtics-Wizards series hub | Lang Whitaker’s series preview
Here are some statistical notes to get you ready for Celtics-Wizards, with links to let you dive in and explore more.
Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions
Boston Celtics (53-29)
First round: Beat Chicago in six games.
Pace: 94.5 (9)
OffRtg: 108.9 (6)
DefRtg: 102.6 (4)
NetRtg: +6.3 (3)
Regular season: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
vs. Washington: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Playoffs: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Celtics first round notes:
NetRtg of plus-6.3 was 3.2 points per 100 possessions better than their regular-season mark. Only the Warriors (6.2) saw a bigger NetRtg increase in the first round.
Led the first round in assist rate (assisting on 71 percent of their field goals) and 8.8 secondary assists per game. Ranked second behind Golden State in both passes per game (307.5) and passes per possession (3.29). Have isolated on only 5.7 percent of their possessions, the lowest rate in the playoffs.
44.4 percent of their shots were 3-point attempts, the highest rate in the first round.
Over the six games, they outscored the Bulls by 40 points in the first quarter and were outscored by 21 in the second.
68 percent of their jumpers were catch-and-shoot attempts, the highest rate (by a wide margin) in the first round. But they shot only 29 percent from mid-range, the lowest mark in the first round.
Grabbed only 70.4 percent of available defensive rebounds, the worst mark in the first round.
Starting lineup for the last four games – with Gerald Green in Amir Johnson’s place – scored 125.6 points per 100 possessions, the best mark among lineups that have played at least 50 minutes in the first round.
Isaiah Thomas shot 9-for-38 (24 percent) on pull-up jumpers, the worst mark among players who have attempted at least 25 in the first round.
Al Horford was one of three players with an effective field goal percentage better than 60 percent on at least 50 shots.
See Celtics-Bulls preview for regular season notes.
Washington Wizards (49-33)
First round: Beat Atlanta in six games.
Pace: 101.3 (5)
OffRtg: 106.0 (10)
DefRtg: 103.5 (5)
NetRtg: +2.5 (6)
Regular season: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
vs. Boston: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Playoffs: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Wizards first round notes:
Outscored the Hawks 124-66 on fast break points. Their average of 20.7 fast break points per game was the highest in the first round. 20 percent of their possessions were in transition (also the highest rate) and their 1.15 points per possession in transition were third best.
Took only 41.3 percent of their shots from the paint, the lowest rate in the playoffs thus far and down from 46.1 percent in the regular season. Ratio of 3-point shots to mid-range shots was just 1.1, the lowest rate in the first round. The Celtics’ rate of 4.1 was second highest.
Were at their best in the fourth quarter, when they outscored the Hawks by 13.5 points per 100 possessions.
Starting lineup is the only lineup that has played at least 100 minutes in the playoffs.
Had an aggregate bench NetRtg of minus-10.1, the fourth worst mark in the first round and worst among teams that advanced to the conference semis. Were outscored by 39 points in 57 minutes with Bradley Beal on the bench and by 62 points in 57 minutes with John Wall and Kelly Oubre Jr. on the floor together.
Wall ranked second in the first round with 10.3 assists per game and was one of five players to shoot at least 50 percent on 50 or more shots and at least 40 percent on 15 or more 3-point attempts.
Markieff Morris had an effective field goal percentage of 42.8 percent, the fourth lowest mark (lowest among players that advanced to the conference semis) among players who took at least 50 shots in the first round.
Beal was one of four players to shoot better than 50 percent on at least 25 mid-range shots.
Marcin Gortat totaled 28 points on 14-for-21 shooting in the first two games and 11 points on 4-for-18 shooting in Games 3-6.
See Wizards-Hawks preview for regular season notes.
The matchup
Season series: Series tied 2-2 (Home team won all four games)
Nov. 9 @ WAS – Wizards 118, Celtics 93
Jan. 11 @ BOS – Celtics 117, Wizards 108
Jan. 24 @ WAS – Wizards 123, Celtics 108
Mar. 20 @ BOS – Celtics 110, Wizards 102
Pace: 99.8
BOS OffRtg: 108.8 (11th vs. WAS)
WAS OffRtg: 111.4 (6th vs. BOS)
Matchup notes:
Al Horford missed the first meeting and Avery Bradley missed the second and third meetings. Bojan Bogdanovic and Brandon Jennings were only with the Wizards for the fourth meeting.
These teams tied for the most wins in games that were within five points in the last five minutes, but only one of the four meetings was within five in the last five. That was the Jan. 11 game, which the Celtics won with a 13-0 run that turned a one-point deficit (with 5:15 to go) into a 12-point lead (with 2:15 to go).
The Wizards grabbed 30.4 percent of available offensive rebounds, their best mark against any opponent this season. Their 21.3 second chance points per game were also the most they averaged against any opponent.
The Celtics assisted on only 53.8 percent of their baskets, their lowest rate against any opponent.
Thomas’ 111 points were the most scored against the Wizards this season.
Otto Porter (29-for-43) and Gortat (20-for-30) ranked first and second in field goal percentage against the Celtics among players with at least 25 shots.
Horford (22-for-35) and Jae Crowder (18-for-30) both ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage against the Wizards among players with at least 25 shots.
Morris shot 10-for-14 (71 percent) in the restricted area and 10-for-42 (24 percent) outside it.
John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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