Celtics keep reaping the benefits from believing in unproven big man

The Celtics bounced back from back-to-back losses with a win on Saturday over the Washington Wizards. Though the game got closer than many would've expected in the final frame, it was never truly in doubt as the Cs coasted to a 111-100 victory.

Here's what stood out:

Rebounding dominance

The last time the Wizards visited TD Garden on Nov. 6, they squared off against a much different Celtics team. At the time, Boston was 29th in defensive rebounding percentage and clearly suffered from their inability to close out stops on the glass.

Despite a 30-point blowout win over Washington, the Celtics and Wizards ended even on the boards with 40 rebounds apiece.

Saturday… Saturday was a different story. Heading into their second home matchup with Washington, the Cs had climbed all the way to eighth in defensive rebound percentage, and it showed.

Boston couldn’t buy a basket in the first quarter, making just 11 of their 27 attempts from the field, yet fully controlled the game. They did so, in part, because they had nearly as many offensive rebounds (eight) as the Wizards did (nine) overall.

The Cs turned those eight extra opportunities into seven second-chance points as they emerged with a four-point lead after the opening 12 minutes.

Boston continued their rebounding dominance throughout the evening. At one point in the third quarter, they had over double Washington’s rebounds with a 34 to 16 advantage.

They wound up outrebounding the Wizards by 17, 55-38.

It’s not hard to see how Bam Adebayo scored 83 points on these guys

Less than a week after Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo logged the second-highest scoring night in league history against them, the Wizards struggled to contain Celtics big man Neemias Queta.

Now, Queta didn’t wind up with 83 points, but he did get off to an incredible start on the offensive end. He set a new career-high for points in a half, pouring in 22 of his 24 points in the first 24 minutes.

He didn’t exactly have to work for it either. Washington had no idea what to do with him when the Portuguese national rolled to the rim off a screen.

To his credit, he showed off some fancy footwork out of the post a few times with some upfakes turned hook shots.

Queta ended up with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assist, a steal, and a block.

Another double-double for Jayson Tatum

As the header reads, Jayson Tatum logged his second double-double in four games since returning from his torn Achilles tendon injury. The superstar forward finished the night with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists, on 9-20 from the field and 2-9 from beyond the arc.

His scoring hasn’t quite returned to the level it was before he went down in the playoffs. He’s able to dominate for stretches, as we’ve seen a few times now, including Saturday when he got hot in the third quarter -- he just can’t sustain it for a full game yet, which is okay.

He’ll get there.

Speaking off, this was the first time Tatum has eclipsed the 27 mark this season. Before his 32 minutes against Washington, 27 seemed to be the unspoken limit for him.