Following a monster win over the New York Knicks on Opening Night, the Boston Celtics traveled to DC for a date with the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. And despite a huge game by Jordan Poole, the Celtics were too much for the rebuilding Wizards. Boston earned a 122-102 win.
Sam Hauser joined Kristaps Porzingis on the injury report, but the Celtics still had all of their regular starters in the lineup. Washington rolled out two rookies, Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington, in the starting five, and Boston took advantage. They just looked like the better, more composed team, and considering where both teams are in the NBA hierarchy, that makes sense.
Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ win over the Wizards on Thursday.
Stud - Derrick White
Jaylen Brown got going toward the end of the first half, and Tatum was solid, but Derrick White was a huge reason the Celtics stuck around early in the game when Poole was on fire.
Alongside Payton Pritchard, White was red-hot from three-point range. He consistently moved off the ball, positioning himself perfectly to get good looks off the plays of his teammates.
Throw in some flashes of playmaking and defense, and this was the exact game Boston should want from White. It wasn’t anything insane, but his impact was very needed.
Dud - Isolation offense
After a ball-popping Opening Night win over the New York Knicks, things slowed down for the Celtics on Thursday, and not in a good way. They got drawn into an isolation-heavy offense against the Wizards, especially in the first half.
Whether it was targeting Wizards players on post-ups or chucking up rushed drives, the Celtics weren’t moving the rock as well as they did on Opening Night.
They showed a few flashes of player and ball movement, but for the most part, the pace of the game slowed down too much in the half-court. Jayson Tatum’s rushed three-point attempt to end the first half was a perfect example.
Free throws kept Boston in this one, but it looked like they were trying too hard to take advantage of a young Wizards squad, and their offensive flow suffered because of it.
Stud - Payton Pritchard
On a night when a lot of the Celtics weren’t hitting their threes at a high rate, Payton Pritchard was there. No Hauser, no problem. Pritchard’s three-point stroke was on point on Thursday,
Pritchard finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Celtics point guard was automatic against the Wizards. (He even nailed a three-quarter-court shot at the end of the third quarter, but he didn’t get it off before the buzzer.)
Dud - Jrue Holiday
This was just an off night for Jrue Holiday. He couldn’t catch a break.
Holiday picked up three fouls before half-time (even if some were questionable calls). None of his shots were falling, and he even air-balled a layup in transition.
A big game from the charity stripe offset his poor play to some degree, but this just wasn’t the same level of play Holiday has played at throughout his time in Boston so far.
These types of nights happen, and his teammates picked him up, but Holiday wasn’t his typical self on Thursday.
Stud - Neemias Queta
After being out of the rotation on Opening Night, Neemias Queta got his first taste of real minutes against the Wizards. And he looked great, especially on the offensive end.
Queta ran the pick-and-roll well, crashed the offensive glass, and most importantly, he found his spots perfectly. He was consistently in the right space on offense, making life easier for his teammates.
He looked like he could make a real impact for Boston on that end this year.
Dud - Jayson Tatum’s threes
Tatum played a great game against Washington. He made some big shots, dished out some solid passes, and was a monster on the boards. But he got a bit three-happy.
The Celtics star saw a couple of threes go down, but some of the threes he was taking looked forced. Whether it was the one he chucked up at the end of the half or some of the isolation looks he threw up, he could have kept a few of them in the bank.
Again, it was an impressive overall game for Tatum, but the threes were flying a bit too often, considering how many missed the mark.