The Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards sit at nearly polar opposite ends of the Eastern Conference standings. However, after watching the Celtics nearly lose to the last place Atlanta Hawks, this game is not a for sure win. Here are a few keys for the Celtics to prevail over the Wizards.
The Boston Celtics have been doing plenty of winning in 2020, and they look to keep that going tonight against the Washington Wizards. Here are two keys to the game if the C’s plan on keeping pace with the third best record in the NBA:
Keep Bradley Beal behind the arc
Bradley Beal is listed as day to day with a leg injury, but he should be the main focus for the Boston Celtics if he is cleared for this game. With John Wall injured, Beal has the ultimate green light from the Wizards. The former Florida guard is averaging just under 28 points per game, but he ranks second in the NBA in field goals attempted per game.
Beal is an excellent scorer, but has struggled from behind the arc this season shooting only 31.5 percent. Beal realizes that the Wizards lack offensive talent and has no problem taking ill-advised shots.
The Celtics can do themselves a big favor if they dare Beal to beat them from behind the arc. I’m not saying the Celtics should leave Beal wide open, but they should give him some space and tempt him into questionable shots.
Beal will most likely drop over 20 points on Boston, but the Celtics can almost secure a win if they keep him under 30. Boston should feel confident that Jaylen Brown can do a solid job defending Beal.
Exploit mismatches with Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum has been very inconsistent over the last six games, but he should be a matchup nightmare for the Wizards. Washington will try multiple defenders on Tatum, but he will most likely have in advantage in every scenario.
If Tatum is matched up with Jordan McRae or Troy Brown, he will be able to use his size and strength to get easy buckets inside. If Washington throws a bigger Johnathan Williams on him, Tatum can use his speed and athleticism to create open looks.
I believe Tatum will be a huge difference-maker in this game because of his performance in Boston’s latest win against the Chicago Bulls. Much like the Wizards, the Bulls clearly had no one who could contain Tatum.
Tatum exploited his clear size and strength advantage over Kris Dunn to score easily in the paint. Then he used his speed and athleticism to create space against slower players like Tomas Satoransky and Lauri Markkanen.
The combination of these mismatches led Tatum to a 28-point performance on 12-15 shooting. Brad Stevens is more than capable of realizing that Tatum can exploit similar mismatches against Washington.
If the Boston Celtics execute these two missions, they will dominate this game. Half of the objectives could already be knocked out if Beal is ruled out for the game. Washington may be an easy team to look past, but Boston must keep its foot on the gas in a competitive Eastern Conference.