Wizards Try to Get Back to Winning Ways Against Celtics

• The Wizards are hitting the skids at the wrong time of the year
• Can the Celtics navigate the postseason without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward?
• Can John Wall successfully re-integrate himself with the Wizards?

Two teams that should be going in opposite directions meet in what could very well be a seven game battle in the opening round of the playoffs, as the Boston Celtics (54-26, 28-12 Away) visit the Washington Wizards (42-28, 22-18 Home) in their final head-to-head meeting of the regular season.

The Wizards should be a team on the rise. They lost All-Star guard John Wall to a knee injury but managed to stay afloat in the East playoff chase, going 15-12 in his absence. But since Wall’s return in a blowout win over Charlotte, the Wiz have dropped four straight.

That doesn’t help ease the internal drama with this team, since talk surfaced of the Wizards playing better as a team without Wall. Some teammates even fuelled the fire with their hot takes on Twitter.

Unbelievable win tonight ! Great "team" victory!

— Marcin Gortat?? (@MGortat) February 2, 2018

Wall hasn’t done much to help his cause. Despite a team high 28 points and 14 assists against the Cavaliers, he struggled on two endgame possessions, this one to ice it for Cleveland.

He then complained he wasn’t getting LeBron-level respect. No, really.

John and Brad on last night's 119-115 loss in Cleveland #WizCavs pic.twitter.com/oveYG67TyB

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 6, 2018

The Celtics should be a team on the decline, especially following news that Kyrie Irving would be shut down for the season, joining Gordon Hayward, whose Celtics’ season lasted all of five minutes.

Still, they haven’t folded. Despite losing three of their last four, they’re still riding a 7-3 streak in their last ten. Even as they are firmly entrenched as a vulnerable two-seed, Boston may just be a tougher out than anyone expects.

Their defence is world class: they are third in the NBA in points allowed, second in field goal percentage and first in opponent three-point percentage. You have to earn everything you get with the guys in green.

Boston Celtics vs Washington Wizards Team Stats

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

Head-to-Head Results

It feels like every game was its own mini-version of the big picture, and for good reason: the lineups always were just a little different than the previous one. This game won’t have Irving, who played the first three, but will have Wall, who missed the previous two. A couple of things to note from the first three games

• The emergence of Otto Porter as a legitimate third wheel behind Wall and Bradley Beal. The kid can do a whole lot of everything on the court (21.7 points and 9 rebounds in the three games this year).
• The emergence of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as key contributors and young leaders for Brad Stevens’ squad.
• The emergence of Marcus Morris as the better Morris twin in these match-ups. Advantage: Boston.

 Notable Injuries and Absences

Straight Up Advice: Wizards (107-99)

Washington is an average team defensively, but they make a conscious effort to contest three-point shooting, where they rank fifth in field goal percentage allowed. And that’s okay, because this team is built to punish opponents on the other end of the floor.

Wall’s two-month absence skews the figures, but this team still managed to shoot close to 38-percent from distance, while scoring at above league average.

That is something that the Celtics cannot do. They are putting up 104 points a game and faltering. While seeing Tatum and Brown learn on the fly is nice, it’s still a major work in progress to trust two youngsters as the fulcrum of the offense.

It’s a pick ‘em as to who can put up points on a given night to help Boston eke out wins. It likely won’t be Terry Rozier, either. Since dropping 21 on the Raptors in a win March 31, he’s posted 19 points in three games played since.

Maybe it’s Greg Monroe? The Celtics have been waiting for the big man to dominate second units as their offensive fulcrum from inside. He torched the Bulls last game with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

Expect Wall to break out in this one, and for Beal to keep scorching this month (23 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in April) to break this Wizards losing streak. That can only help – a Washington win could help them climb out of the eight-seed they currently reside in. The juiciest landing spot? Seventh, and a date with the Celtics in Round One.

 Team Trends

Additional SU Picks (April 10th)

Their are five other games scheduled on Tuesday night. We looked into our crystal ball and came up with these SU picks.