The Boston Celtics were without most of their regular players Tuesday evening in their tilt against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena, but still were able to walk away with a 116-110 win.
Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier were some of the only regular players to take the court for the Celtics in Washington D.C., and Rozier lead the Celtics in scoring with 21 points.
Brad Wanamaker, R.J. Hunter, and Semi Ojeleye also had impressive performances for Boston, earning 17 points each. Brown scored 15 points.
Boston landed 15 of their 44 three-point attempts against Washington, grabbing 51 rebounds and adding 27 assists.
The Celtics closed out the season with a 49-33 record thanks to the victory.
Here’s how it all went down.
STARTING FIVE
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Semi Ojeleye
PF: Guerschon Yabusele
C: Robert Williams III
TRYING TO KEEP UP
With so many young faces on the court, it was hard for the Celtics to keep up with the Wizards at times in the first quarter. Boston trailed 39-25 after the first 12 minutes.
The Celtics managed to put up 25 points in the first, but fell behind Washington early. At one point, the Celtics allowed the Wizards’ lead to get to 21.
Boston did begin to bounce back, going on an 11-4 run in the final minutes of the quarter. Brown led the team with nine points in the first 12, followed by Rozier and Ojeleye with five.
There were a couple of nice moves made by Boston in the first, including this notable play made by Rozier about halfway through.
Of the Wizards’ 39 points in the first, 14 came from Bradley Beal.
CLOSING THE GAP
The Celtics didn’t waste any time getting back into the game, closing out the half down just one point (63-62).
Wanamaker scored nine points for the Celtics in the second, including this floater over three different Wizards.
Robert Williams also got into the action in the second with this insane block on Sam Dekker.
Oh yeah, and then there was this nice assist by P.J. Dozier.
Boston ended up outscoring the Wizards 38-25 in the second quarter.
STAYING WITH IT
Boston lost a bit of steam at the beginning of second half, quickly trailing the Wizards by double digits within minutes. Washington maintained a healthy 10-point lead on the Celtics for most of the third quarter.
But the Celtics didn’t give up, bringing the Wizards’ lead down to just six points by the end of the quarter.
Brown continued to perform well in the third, including this steal:
Despite regaining the lead, the Wizards only outscored the Celtics by five points in the third quarter.
BREAKING AWAY
The Wizards entered the fourth quarter with a 95-89 lead on the Celtics, but that wouldn’t last very long.
The Celtics took a 98-97 advantage with just eight minutes left in the game thanks to a layup from Ojeleye — and they never looked back from there, outscoring the Wizards 27-15 in the final quarter.
This dunk by Hunter says it all.
This three-point shot by Hunter also was gold.
Boston’s young guns were on point, and they made sure Washington knew it.
In the end, Boston’s bench simply was too much for the 11th-place Wizards to handle, unable to regain the lead they had held for more than three-quarters of the game.
PLAY OF THE GAME
This dunk by Dozier sure was a doozy.
UP NEXT
The Celtics will take on the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. The postseason scheduled will be released Wednesday.
