The Boston Celtics‘ four game losing streak is starting to seem like ancient history. The Celtics beat a good Indiana Pacers team on national TV, then took care of business at home once again against the struggling Phoenix Suns. Their next test is the second game of a back-to-back against the red-hot Washington Wizards.
The good news for Boston is that Washington is coming off a game last night as well, a 14 point win over Indiana. The bad news is Washington is on a four game winning streak, three of the wins against teams in the playoff hunt.
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This is a big game for both teams, in regards to the Eastern Conference standings. A win for Boston, and a Detroit Pistons loss to the Golden State Warriors, would have the Celtics jump Detroit for the seven seed. A Washington win would give Washington the eight seed over Boston. It’s only halfway through the season but in a competitive Eastern Conference, like this year, it’s never to early to start looking at the playoff picture.
The Celtics are coming off one of their most impressive offensive showings of the season. They scored 117 points en route to a blowout win over the Phoenix Suns, in which seven players scored at least 10 points for Boston.
The Celtics were able to rest Isaiah Thomas, he only played 24 minutes. Part of that was due to Marcus Smart having the best game of his career, and recording his first career triple-double. Either way, Thomas should have fresh legs to face off against one of the top point guards in the NBA, John Wall.
Wall is once again putting together an All-Star like season. He leads the team in scoring, 19.6 points per game, is fourth in the NBA in steals per game with 2.1, and is second in the NBA in assists per game with 9.6. He is playing all-around great basketball so far and they’ve needed it.
The Wizards other star guard, Bradley Beal, was sidelined due to a leg injury but returned for the Wizards’ past two games. He scored 22 points in 22 minutes last night against Indiana but is expected to sit out Saturday night since it’s the second game of a back-to-back.
Marcin Gortat, Kris Humphries and Otto Porter all missed Friday’s game as well. However, their statuses for Saturday’s game against the Celtics is still unknown.
If all three were to miss again then rookie Kelly Oubre Jr., and Jared Dudley would most likely get the start once again. Nene Hilario, Drew Gooden and DeJuan Blair would split the time at center for the injured Gortat.
The Wizards are injury plagued at the moment, which gives the Celtics a big advantage down low for the second straight game. Kelly Olynyk scored a team high 21 points last night and could be in store for another big game. Washington is a very physical team, which could give Olynyk problems down low. Although, he was able to hit jump shots against Phoenix (4-6 from behind the arc) and can take defenders off the dribble as well.
The biggest loss for the Wizards would be if Otto Porter is out. Kelly Oubre Jr. has a ton of potential and should become a very good small forward in the future. He is very raw right now though and guarding Jae Crowder, who has had a great season thus far, would be a lot to ask from the young small forward. Crowder has scored at least 15 points in 12 of the last 14 games. He will also cause problems for Oubre Jr. when on offense as he already doesn’t shoot particularly well from the field, 42.2 percent field goal percentage, and Crowder is one of the best wing defenders in the league.
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It has surprised a lot of people that Washington has struggled as much as they have this season. They have started to turn it around a little though and despite their slow start have a chance at being the eight seed for at least a couple of days with their star shooting guard coming back from an injury.
When healthy, the Wizards can compete with any team in the NBA. Luckily for the Celtics they aren’t healthy, not even close.
Boston will need to match the physicality that Washington presents and keep the defensive intensity they showed during their game against Indiana and the first half against Phoenix. The Celtics are healthy and are starting to find their rotation with guys like Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson and Olynyk stepping up in the front court.
There is really no way to tell who the X-factor is in this game because we don’t know who will be playing for Washington. The keys to the game are for Avery Bradley, Smart and Thomas to control John Wall and not let him go off. They also need to take advantages of mismatches because it’s highly unlikely that Humphries, Gortat and Porter will all play.
This is a winnable game for Boston and a big one if they want to keep moving up in the standings.