Celtics Wrap: Boston Plays All Reserves, Falls To Wizards In Seeding Round Finale

There was a real test of the “if a tree falls” theory in Orlando on Thursday.

The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards met for their seeding round finale, and it was impossible to watch the game and not ask “why are they playing this?” The Celtics are locked into the third seed and benched six of their regulars for rest, while the Wizards are miles out of the postseason picture and, truthfully, probably shouldn’t have been invited to the bubble in the first place.

And lest we forget it was buried in the Thursday at noon and was on nary a national network.

But alas, the show went on, with the Celtics falling 96-90.

Javonte Green led the Celtics with 23 points. Semi Ojeleye was the only other Celtic in double figures, putting up 13.

Thomas Bryant was one of four Wizards in double-figures, scoring a game-high 26 points.

The Celtics fall to 48-24 with the loss, while the Wizards climb to 25-47 with the win.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE
PG: Tremont Waters
SG: Javonte Green
SF: Romeo Langford
PF: Semi Ojeleye
C: Enes Kanter

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WIZARDS START AHEAD
Save for an early Celtics lead, the Wizards had control much of the opening period, finishing ahead 26-21.

While there wasn’t much to take away from the opening period, we did get a nice look at what Romeo Langford can do as a ball-handler.

Langford did end up leaving the game later with a sprained right wrist.

Green led all players with 11 points in the first, three of which came off a nice Enes Kanter feed.

SLIGHTLY MORE EVEN
The second period was a little more level, with the two sides each dropping 30 points and Washington going to the break up 56-51.

Not that it was dealing with an insurmountable deficit, but Boston clawed back to take the lead during the second. However, the Wizards scored 11 of the frame’s last 16 points to go into half on top.

Isaac Bonga, Moe Wagner and Robert Williams all had a game-high six second-quarter points.

HEATING UP (KINDA)
Boston controlled play for stretches, but not all of, the third quarter, outscoring the Wizards 26-22 to go into the final frame down 77-76.

The Celtics got off to a quick start coming out of the half, and as a result erased the five-point deficit they had.

From there, it was level-pegging much of the way, with the two sides trading chances throughout the period.

Easily the highlight of the quarter was Tacko Fall checking in and swatting a shot into the Gulf of Mexico.

WIZARDS WIN IT
The Wizards pulled away in the back half of the fourth quarter to outscore the Celtics 18-13 in the final 12 minutes and secure the win.

It was all square for pretty much the entirety of the fourth, but the Wizards pulled away near the midway point of the quarter. A 21-footer from Bryant with seven minutes to play tied the game at 85 and kicked off what would become a 9-0 run over 2:39 that effectively put the game away.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Robert Williams in midseason form.

UP NEXT
The Celtics now will take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. The schedule has not yet been set.

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