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Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« on: April 09, 2018, 11:07:16 PM »

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Boston Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38)
Regular Season Game #81, Road Game #41
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
8:00 PM ET
TV: TNT, NBCSB 
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, WFED 1500 AM
Capital One Arena



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Terry Rozier vs John Wall

Shooting Guard

vs
Jaylen Brown vs Bradley Beal
Small Forward
vs  
Jayson Tatum vs Otto Porter, Jr

Power Forward
  vs 
Al Horford vs Markieff Morris

Center
vs
Aron Baynes vs Marcin Gortat 


Celtics Reserves
Abdel Nader
Semi Ojeleye
Shane Larkin
Jabari Bird
Kadeem Allen
Greg Monroe
Jonathon Gibson
Marcus Morris

Injuries
Gordon Hayward (ankle)  out
Marcus Smart (Thumb)  out
Daniel Theis  (knee)  out
Kyrie Irving (knee)  out
Guerschon Yabusele (knee) day to day

Two Way Players

Jabari Bird
Kadeem Allen

Head Coach

Brad Stevens




Wizards Reserves
Tim Frazier
Chris McCullough
Jodie Meeks
Kelly Oubre, Jr
Thomas Satoransky
Mike Scott
Ramon Sessions
Jason Smith

Injuries
Ian Mahinmi (concussion) day to day

Two Way Players
Devin Robinson

Head Coach
Scott Brooks

Game Notes

The Celtics and Wizards meet for the 4th and final regular season game this season.   This is the 3rd season in a row that they have played 4 times in the regular season.  The Celtics trail 1-2 in the series so far with the Wizards winning 111-103 on Christmas Day in Boston and the Celtics winning 110-104 in OT on February 8 in Washington.  The Wizards won 125-124 in double OT in Boston on March 14. 

The Celtics are coming off a loss to the Hawks and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.  They are 28-12 on the road, which is better than their 26-14 home record.  The Wizards have lost their last 4 games and are 2-8 in their last 10 games.  They are 22-18 at home.  Both teams are playing in the first game of their final back to back set of the season.

The Celtics are locked into the second seed but the Wizards are still fighting for playoff positioning.  They are currently in the 8th spot and 4.5 games ahead of 9th and so can't fall out of the playoffs, but who they will face is still up in the air.  Here  is the current playoff picture:
Seed...... Team....... GB ...... Remaining Games
6             Bucks       --           @PHI 4/11
7             Heat         1           vs TOR 4/11
8            Wizards      1.5        vs BOS 4/10, @ORL 4/11

John Wall has returned to the Wizards lineup after missing 2 months with a knee injury.  He has played well, but the team is still working at getting their chemistry back, losing the 4 games since his return.  Ian Mahinmi still has not passed the league's concussion protocol and is listed as day to day. 

For the Celtics, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis and Marcus Smart remain out.  The good news is that Marcus Smart is hoping to return to the court by April 27.  The bad news is that the other 3 will miss the playoffs.  Guerschon Yabusele is questionable with knee soreness.  I'm not expecting players to be rested in this game but we'll know more closer to game time. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal is averaging 22.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game.  Beal is averaging 17.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists over his career against Boston.  On 3/14, Beal put up 34 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists against the Celtics.  Jaylen Brown has the tough task of covering Beal.  Jaylen has the size to disrupt Beal and hopefully will be up to the task. 

vs
Terry Rozier vs John Wall 
Wall missed the last two games against the Celtics with a knee injury.  He is averaging 19.2 points, 9.5 assists, and 3.6 rebounds.  Over his career vs Boston, he is averaging 18.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 9.0 assists.  Since his return from the injury, he is averaging 17.3 points and 12.7 assists, but he has also averaged 6 turnovers.  It will be up to Terry Rozier to be sure that he doesn't regain chemistry with his teammates in this game. 

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Otto Porter, Jr
Porter has had some big games against the Celtics like the 2nd game between them this season where he had 27 points and 11 rebounds.  He is averaging 11.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists over his career against the Celtics.   He is averaging 14.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season.  Jayson needs to continue his strong play in this game to keep him from having another big game in this one. 

Marcus Morris vs Markieff Morris
Just because Twins.  Both brothers have said that they don't want to face each other in the playoffs but depending on how things go on the last two days of the season, they may not be able to avoid it.  Markieff is averaging 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists against the Celtics over his career. 

Keys to the Game

Defense - The Celtics need to make defense a priority.   Defense wins games.   The Wizards are averaging 106.7 points per game.  The Celtics are averaging 104.0 points per game.   However, they may find scoring hard to come by with all the injuries to key players.  The Celtics can't depend on winning a shoot out with the Wizards and so they have to play tough defense to stop the Wizards from scoring.  But even then they will miss two of their better defenders in Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team from start to finish.  They need to be aggressive in going to the hoop, in crashing the boards, in fighting for loose balls and in running the court.  They also have to be more aggressive on defense.  They have to be the team that wants it more.  If the Celtics want to get a win in this game,  they have to be more aggressive than the Wizards.   With the Wizards close to full strength and the Celtics still short handed, their only hope is to play harder than their opponents.

Rebound
-  The Celtics are averaging 44.2 rebounds per game while the Wizards are averaging 42.9 rebounds per game.   The Celtics have to put out the extra effort to grab rebounds and match or exceed the Wizards efforts on the boards if they want to get a win in this game.

Take Care of the Ball
- The Celtics need to move the ball to find the open man and to keep the Wizards running.  However, they have to make careful passes.  If they get careless and turn the ball over,  the Wizards will make them pay as they average 17 points off turnovers (9th).  The Celtics can't afford to give the Wizards extra points off of turnovers.

X-Factors
Next Man Up - The Celtics are still short handed and so the players that are healthy and on the court will have to step up and give 120%.  They need to make up for both key offensive and defensive players who are injured.   The Celtics are going to need a lot from the vets playing Morris, Rozier, Monroe, Larkin and Baynes and also from the rookies that make up the rest of the rotation.
 
On the Road - The Celtics are on the road again.  Usually young teams play worse on the road but the Celtics have a better record on the road than they do at home.   They have to continue to ignore the distractions of playing on the road and in front of a hostile crowd. 

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2018, 11:12:34 PM »

Offline MattyIce

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let’s get this!  keep wiz in 8th

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2018, 11:12:56 PM »

Online FLCeltsFan

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TP to  matteo  for being the first to post in the game thread. 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!!

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2018, 11:15:39 PM »

Offline liam

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TP Matteo, Go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2018, 11:59:09 PM »

Offline GreenEnvy

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If we win, would we essentially be making the Wiz the 8 seed?

I’d try to win this game, then rest everyone Wednesday.
CELTICS 2024

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2018, 12:02:40 AM »

Offline blink

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Lets go C's, make a last statement of the regular season and just blow them out of the water. 

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2018, 01:09:47 AM »

Offline Jiri Welsch

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Actually want to win this game!

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2018, 02:08:58 AM »

Offline bopna

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No report of Brad resting guys and so does the Wiz..

Could this mean both teams will go for the win?
For Brad it will be a barometer of how his team will look like if we do play the Wiz in round one.. If somehow we get blown out.. Will it mean that the Wiz will smoke us in roind one?.

We shall see but this is not gonna be your typical last day of the reg season game... Heck this will probably have PO type feel to it i believe.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2018, 02:34:47 AM »

Offline trickybilly

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This game should be lit!

Last meaningful game for 5 days or so (we should probably wheel out the Claws for that game against BKN, just to spite the Cavs..). I want to see HUGE defensive intensity.


"Gimme the ball, gimme the ball". Freddy Quimby, 1994.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2018, 03:27:12 AM »

Online SparzWizard

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No report of Brad resting guys and so does the Wiz..

Could this mean both teams will go for the win?
For Brad it will be a barometer of how his team will look like if we do play the Wiz in round one.. If somehow we get blown out.. Will it mean that the Wiz will smoke us in roind one?.

We shall see but this is not gonna be your typical last day of the reg season game... Heck this will probably have PO type feel to it i believe.

Most of the Celtics-Wizards games have been pretty intense/hostile, dating back to last playoffs and last year's regular games. Wizards want blood and the Celtics do not have Isaiah Thomas this time around lol. Expect ejections and elbow throwing here and there. Definitely look out for Marcus Morris's technical fouls too  8)


#JTJB (Just Trade Jaylen Brown)
#JFJM (Just Fire Joe Mazzulla)

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2018, 04:11:59 AM »

Offline azzenfrost

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Just win.
I moved the cheese.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2018, 07:02:04 AM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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Should be a easy win for a healthy Wizzy team.   Nader , Semi , and restor the bench playing most mi utes.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2018, 07:03:43 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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We need this one. A win should keep them from facing us in 1st round with confidence. They are more dangerous and unlikeable than Miami or Milwaukee.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2018, 04:34:04 PM »

Offline jbpats

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IMO this is a must win for us. Wizards are the last team I want to see round 1 if I had my choice.
I gotta believe Brad is resting guys though since we're a +7.5 dog right now.

Re: Celtics (54-26) at Wizards (42-38) Game #81 4/10/18
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2018, 04:36:21 PM »

Offline liam

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Should be a easy win for a healthy Wizzy team.   Nader , Semi , and restor the bench playing most mi utes.

Which one goes off for 50? Nader or Semi?