Boston Celtics Lose Ugly in Washington

The Boston Celtics had a miserable game three as they lost in a blowout to the Wizards

For the third straight game the Boston Celtics came out flat against the Washington Wizards. The despair escalated quicker than usual, as the Wizards went on a 22-0 run, with the Celtics looking the worst they have all season long.

The Celtics did not have Isaiah Thomas stopping the bleeding by manufacturing points. They did not get a boost from any bench player, and they could not go on a run with John Wall on the bench. The Celtics were miserable, lifeless on the court and things got out of control in every way.

The game finished with eight technical fouls, one for each coach, two ejections on double technicals and an ejection on a flagrant two. Just as the Celtics completely lost control of their play, the refs lost control of the game.

Further marred by a flurry of whistles on both ends, the pain was drown out as much as possible in this one. After looking like a real contender for two games, the Celtics were brought down to earth in a brutal way that is reminiscent of their game two performance against the Bulls.

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With Thomas failing to score 15 points, and Marcus Smart turning the ball over eight times, everything that was going right went wrong for the Celtics. They were not executing nearly as well on offense, they were giving up all kinds of offensive rebounds again, and they could not hit the open shots. The Celtics have grown accustomed to players bringing a boost on the bench. In game three, their inconsistencies finally caught up with them all at the same time.

The Wizards deserve credit. They punished the Celtics for every mistake they made. The Celtics were lazy on defense, and they made sure to take every easy point available. They were getting to their spots, and the Celtics did very little to slow them down. The Wizards imposed their will and controlled the game from start to finish.

The Wizards get comfortable when they are playing in transition, and the Celtics did nothing to pull them into the kind of game that might allow a comeback. When the Celtics are making more mistakes than they are forcing, things become too difficult for them. When that is combined with poor shooting they don’t stand a chance.

The Celtics have been successful because they have been getting contributions from their entire lineup. In this game, they did not get more than a good minute in a row out of any player. They could not sustain consistent offense and defense was even worse.

The good news is that the Celtics have been here before. They have proven capable of bouncing back from these kinds of performances. The Celtics now have a glimpse as to what kind of team the Wizards are at home, and this has to be the last time they have an effort anywhere close to this again.

The Celtics were not expecting a sweep, but they cannot give up control of this series. The Celtics have first hand experience what winning two games in a row to tie up a series can be like. Even with them holding onto home court, it would be the worst kind of mistake to think this series can just be won at home.

There is a good chance that the series will end up paying out like that, but that kind of losing will sink this team mentally. There is no reason to doubt that Stevens will get their heads right, as he has done time and time again this season.

The Celtics can still feel comfortable in this situation, but they now see how much more important it is to get off to a good start while in Washington. The Wizards were feeding off scrappy chaotic environment of the game, making it that much more important for the Celtics to take the life out of them early on. The way this series has gone, tempers are not coming down, and the Celtics need to find a way to use that to their advantage.

After the Celtics had their worst game of the season in game two against the Bulls, they responded with two phenomenal starts to the next games. No one can know who will be in the starting lineup, but it cannot be understated how important it is that they figure out the starts to these games like they did last time they suffered that kind of debilitating loss.

Next: Celtics Must Start Games Better on Road

The Wizards have officially brought themselves back into this series, but the Celtics can leave feeling phenomenal with a split. For as much pressure the Celtics will be on in game four, the Wizards go in knowing a loss on their end does a lot more damage than a loss for the Celtics.

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