A day after their 2024 NBA Championship visit to the White House, the Boston Celtics strolled over to Capital One Arena for an NBA Cup showdown with the Washington Wizards. On one side, the reigning champs, and on the other, a team scrapping it out with the Philadelphia 76ers for the title of ‘worst team in the East.’
But despite the talent gap between the two sides, Washington made things interesting. Boston was struggling to hit shots all night long, and the Wizards capitalized on their struggles. This was a close game all the way into the final few minutes, but in the end, the Celtics picked up a 108-96 victory.
Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ NBA Cup win over the Wizards on Friday night.
Stud - Luke Kornet
Neemias Queta got the start in place of Al Horford, who was out due to a non-COVID illness. Unfortunately, the Portuguese big man had a rough go of things. He was getting turned around on defense and couldn’t find the right timing. But Luke Kornet stepped up.
As soon as Kornet got into the game, it was clear that he was the right choice. He was in the right spots, battling on the offensive glass and giving the Celtics some nice vertical spacing.
Kornet’s rebounding gave the Celtics a much-needed boost, and he even threw down a no-look alley-oop on a cut to the basket.
He gave the Celtics some great energy, as this was Kornet’s best game in a while.
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Dud - Jayson Tatum
This was Jayson Tatum’s worst performance of the year by a long shot, and it all stemmed from his inability to shoot the ball.
Tatum had some nice drives to the rim, including a great blow-by on rookie Alex Sarr in the first quarter, but other than that, he was struggling to score the ball. His three-point shot looked completely off, as his night even included a couple of airballs.
His defense was a bit shaky at times, too. Tatum got caught off guard in transition at points during this game, and it looked like he was hesitant to contest at the rim.
The Celtics star made a huge impact with his playmaking, and he helped out on the glass, too, but his shot-making was dreadful, particularly from beyond the arc. (Though he did turn it up in the fourth quarter.)
Stud - Jaylen Brown
Though Tatum wasn’t his best self in this game, Jaylen Brown picked up the slack. Even Brown wasn’t perfect, as his efficiency left something to be desired, but he was still big for Boston on Friday night.
Brown made it a point to get inside over and over and over again. He took his fair share of threes, but most of them came within the floor of the offense. When Brown was the one creating, he got inside.
His ability to score at the rim and in the mid-range area gave the Celtics some buckets at points in the game where they were struggling to score.
Brown was also big for Boston on the glass, and his passing shined as well.
Dud - Neemias Queta
As noted, this was the second game in a row where Neemias Queta wasn’t great, and as the game went on, the Celtics started looking to Kornet instead of him.
Queta had a couple of plays on offense where he showed off his pop, but defensively, the Wizards were taking advantage of him.
Just like he did in the Celtics’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Queta was getting turned around on defense. He got blown by too many times, and the timing of his help in the paint was off for most of the evening.
He still has some work to do on defense.
Stud - Sam Hauser
It’s been a relatively rough year for Sam Hauser. His three-point shot has been way off for long stretches, but that wasn’t the case on Friday night.
Hauser found a nice rhythm from beyond the arc, but that wasn’t where his impact stopped. He got inside for a couple of buckets, too, cutting to the paint for one and driving into a self-created mid-range fadeaway for another.
He played great defense, too. Hauser’s impressive footwork helped him keep up with Washington’s offense, and he nabbed a few steals in the process.
Dud - Shot-making
Early in the game, the Celtics’ defense was the bigger problem. The Wizards were getting open looks inside and from deep. But as the night went on, they picked things up on that end. Boston just couldn’t make shots.
It’s always tough when two of the top guys—in this case, Tatum and White—are ice-cold, but nobody was great from three-point range. Jrue Holiday and Hauser were the only ones who shot a respectable percentage from three-point range.
Their inability to make shots led to issues all over the floor. It hurt their transition defense, helped Washington find a rhythm, and allowed the Wizards to stay in the game until the bitter end.
For the most part, the Celtics’ offensive process was solid—they just couldn’t knock down their open looks.