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Wizards, Celtics begin home-and-home in Boston

Dec 7, 2014 - 1:51 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics begin a home- and-home series, starting Sunday afternoon at TD Bank Garden, and ending Monday in Washington.

The Wizards take a four-game winning streak into Sunday's matinee and own the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, trailing only the Toronto Raptors.

Washington's winning streak coincided with a four-game homestand. The Wiz knocked off the New Orleans Pelicans, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets during the residency.

On Friday, the Wizards had little difficulty in dispatching the Nuggets, 119-89. That was the fourth consecutive game Washington held the opponent under 96 points.

"When we're playing well, we're playing great defense," said Paul Pierce, who will return to Boston after being gone for a season-plus. "That's what we hang our hat on every night."

Kris Humphries scored 20 points to lead the Wizards on Friday. He started the last six games as Nene has dealt with an injured foot. Nene returned against the Nuggets and came off the bench to score eight points.

Rasual Butler and Kevin Seraphin each scored 16 points for the Wizards. John Wall nearly had a triple-double as he scored nine points with eight rebounds and 12 assists.

Marcin Gortat finished with 15 and Bradley Beal added 14. Pierce logged 11 points in just over 20 minutes of action.

The Celtics have won two in a row after a five consecutive losses. They knocked off the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, then prevailed against their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Both victories came at home. Tyler Zeller had 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting and pulled down 14 rebounds in the Celtics' 113-96 victory over the Lakers.

"Tyler's got that nice little flip shot at five or seven feet, where he can shoot it with either hand and he doesn't have to get all the way to the rim to finish," said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. "So (Rajon) Rondo looks for him, and that's a good thing."

Jeff Green added 19 points for the Celtics. Jared Sullinger tallied 17 points and 13 boards, Avery Bradley donated 16 points and Rondo scored 12 points and dished out 16 assists.

The Celtics shot the ball brilliantly from the floor versus the Lakers. They went for 51.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range, although they struggled at the foul line to the tune of 13-for-22.

The Wizards won three of four against the Celtics last season to halt a seven- game series slide. Washington won two straight in Boston after it lost six in a row as the visitor.