Boston Celtics Find Their Game Against the Wizards

Brad Stevens said the Boston Celtics found something during their final run against the Philadelphia 76ers. It turns out that they found their identity and they finally played a full 48 minutes once again against the Washington Wizards. The Celtics finally had more than one player play well and Jae Crowder did not lie when he said the team found “togetherness” as they mounted a comeback against the 76ers.

For the first time since losing Marcus Smart, the Celtics looked like they do when he is playing. The defense initiated everything and they had their best game of the season with second chance opportunities. The Celtics finally returned to doing what they do best and they once again had a double digit victory while playing their game.

The Celtics had 19 offensive rebounds, forced 22 turnovers, had 42 points in the paint, had 28 assists and limited the Wizards to just 32% shooting. Pretty much any area of the game that the Celtics have used to win so far this year, they flourished in against the Wizards. The Celtics knew the Wizards were a turnover prone team without a great presence in the paint and they exploited those areas to the fullest.

Jared Sullinger had the best three quarters any player has had for the Celtics this season and this was looking like his second career 20 20 game had he played any time in the fourth quarter. Sullinger led the way with 6 offensive rebounds. He was efficient on the inside and this may have been his best outside shooting game of the season.

Sullinger was dishing out passes and blocking shots and there really were no flaws in his game tonight. Sullinger has been the Celtics’ best big this season and he is really starting to separate himself now. Sullinger has found a way to take advantage of his large frame and there isn’t a soul bringing up any shortcoming because of conditioning. Sullinger has done everything to prove the doubters wrong this season and this game against the Wizards was the high point thus far.

Nov 25, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics center Jared Sullinger (7) shoots a three point shot during the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Sullinger was the stand out but more than anything else this was a team win for the Celtics on both ends of the court. The Celtics had an impressive 28 assists on the game but not a single player had more than four. The Celtics’ entire starting lineup had exactly three assist and Tyler Zeller was the lone player to see the court and not get an assist.

The Celtics were unselfish and they were moving the ball well and even though they had a sub par shooting night by many standards, they had one of their most impressive overall offensive games. 43% overall and 36% from three is solid from the Celtics but for almost any other team that won’t be nearly enough for 111 total points. The Celtics had 7 different players in double digits and they had 13 more shot attempts than the Wizards.

The Celtics have shown this kind of ability multiple times this season but after the worst three game stretch of the season this may have been the most important performance for the Celtics. They proved that they do not need Smart to be a top defensive team and the second unit proved that they can produce with both Thomas and Bradley starting. On every level, the Celtics were stellar tonight.

As exciting as this game was it still did not solve the biggest issue for the Celtics, consistency. The Celtics have showed the world how good they can be but they are yet to prove that they can play that way night in and night out. The Celtics have a tough 5 game road trip coming up and now would be a great time to string together multiple strong performances. The Celtics have taken yet another step forward but they have to avoid the trap of taking two steps backwards.

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This game was no fluke from the Celtics because they won playing their brand of basketball but they need to prove that the three games before this were flukes. The Celtics need to prove that they will be competing at this level each and every night and then maybe they can start to climb the eastern conference standings.

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