Boston Celtics: Tatum, Walker lead Cs to 7th straight postseason berth

There was a lot of talk coming into this seven against eight play-in game that, with Jaylen Brown’s injury, the recent struggles for the Boston Celtics, and Washington’s huge surge up to the eighth seed, even with home-court advantage the shamrocks were the underdogs in this game.

They seemed to embrace that mindset, and right from the jump, it was obvious to anyone watching that the Cs really wanted this game.

Boston has been plagued by bad starts to games this season, especially as of late.

However, Tuesday’s outing was clearly going to be a different story, and they seemed to be an entirely different Celtics team to start off the first quarter in terms of effort and passion than what fans have become accustomed to.

The Boston Celtics started off strong for a change

Jayson Tatum took on the challenge of guarding Bradley Beal, the Wizards’ number one scoring option. On top of this, Marcus Smart dove on the floor for a loose ball, Kemba Walker took a charge, Robert Williams blocked a shot, and Evan Fournier hit a three.

Each starter contributed in their own way, all within the first minutes.

The Cs got off to a decent lead to start the game, at one point leading by as many as nine points and leading 27 to 21 at the end of the first quarter.

However, in the second quarter, a significant weakness for the team all season came back to bite them once again.

Washington’s bench outplayed the C’s

Once both teams put multiple bench pieces into the game, the Wizards started making a comeback, led by team journeyman, Ish Smith.

He scored 11 points in the first half (seven in the second quarter), and along with an 11 point quarter from Bradley Beal, helped the Wizards take a 54-52 halftime lead into the locker room.

The biggest halftime advantage the Wizards had over the Boston Celtics was a 22 to six comparison in bench points, with all six from the Cs coming from Tristan Thompson.

Along with injuries to both Smart (who returned almost immediately) and Rob Williams (who didn’t return for the rest of the game), the Celtics were outscored 33 to 25, leading to an all-around tough second quarter.

Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker lead third-quarter surge

Coming out of halftime, the plan for the Boston Celtics seemed clear right away; get the ball to the stars in Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker.

The team scored an awesome 38 points in the quarter, which consisted of 32 points from Tatum and Kemba and six from everyone else, including 23 from Tatum alone.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Cs carried a 90-80 lead, and Tatum was already approaching a historic night with 41 points through three quarters.

While the Wizards had a solid offensive quarter, scoring 26 points, the Celtics hit six of their 15 long balls in the third quarter, giving them a huge advantage.

Cs stepped up defensive intensity to extend the lead

In the fourth quarter, the Celtic’s defense was what helped them eventually pull away towards the end.

Holding Washington to only 20 points in the quarter, they were able to keep superstars Beal and Russell Westbrook in check in terms of scoring efficiency and were able to reach a final score of 118 to 100.

Two main advantages that seemed to help Boston win the game were their superior three-point shooting and better play from their own dynamic duo compared to the opposing tandem.

Looking at three-point shooting, the Boston Celtics shot 15 for 45 (33.3%), while Washington shot a measly 3 for 21 (14.3%), giving the Celtics a 36 point advantage in that department.

Comparing each set of dynamic duos, Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker scored a combined 79 points, including a whopping 50 points from Tatum, on 24 for 56 shooting (42.9%), while Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook scored a combined 42 points on 16 for 43 shooting (37.2%).

With this win, Boston has clinched a playoff spot, specifically the seventh seed, and will play the Brooklyn Nets in the first round in a best-of-seven series.

The Washington Wizards will look to bounce back in a one-game elimination matchup with the Indiana Pacers for the eighth seed, who beat the Charlotte Hornets in convincing fashion earlier in the day.