Boston Celtics vs Washington Wizards Preview

The Boston Celtics will have their second meeting of the season against the Washington Wizards and it will be a contest between two teams that are currently slumping. The Celtics won their last game but that victory against the 76ers was nothing to get excited about and proved that very little has changed from the Hawks game.

The Wizards are coming off of back to back loses of at least 14 points and in what could be a very sluggish matchup, both teams will be looking to get back on track. Both teams have aspirations of making the postseason and potentially go on a playoff run but they both have a lot of work to do in the mean time.

With a loss the Celtics will fall back to .500 and with a loss the Wizards will fall under .500. It is too early in the season for teams to be desperate but a win for either team will go a long ways in reestablishing success.

There is no doubting that the Celtics need to be better on the defensive end and if they do not return to their high level of defensive intensity then the Wizards will have no problem moving the ball. The Wizards are 8th in the league with 22.6 assists per game and a key for the Celtics will be preventing them from winning through consistent ball movement. The Celtics need to make sure that they are not only disruptive for limited runs. The Celtics need to manage to sustain a high level of defense because the Wizards will have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of if the Celtics are slacking on the defensive end.

Washington is also one of the worst teams turning the ball over as they have the 7th most per game in the league. The Wizards look to make difficult passes and the Celtics will have to take advantage on the defensive end. The Wizards rely greatly on their passing but they are not as crisp and efficient as they would like. The Celtics need to make sure that they are putting the Wizards in positions to turn the ball over and then that alone will also lead to offensive success.

Other than Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas rotating between playing well, the Celtics have done nothing positive on the offensive end lately. The Celtics cannot depend entirely on one player and they need to get back to their ball movement. Brad Stevens has discussed the issues of playing as a team and that applies to both ends of the court.

Nov 24, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) looses control of the ball as Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Muscala (31) defends in the first quarter of their game at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Washington is tied for fourth in the league in generating turnovers and in a matchup that will feature to turnover prone teams that also generate a lot of turnovers, the transition battle may decide the game. The Celtics still lead the league in forced turnovers and if they do not find a way to consistently turn that into offense then the Wizards just might beat them at their own game.

The Wizards have a very strong back court in Bradley Beal and John Wall and with Marcus Smart still injured this could be a challenge on the defensive end. The Celtics have to make sure that they do not allow Beal and Wall to take this game over. If the Celtics can win the battle of the back court then chances are they will win the transition battle and that will be the best way for them to come out with a victory.

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The Celtics picked a good time to be playing the Wizards and after a couple days of rest the Celtics should be ready to come out and play with the energy that won them three games in a row before this recent slump.

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