Recap: Wizards lose to Celtics, 130-121

Nov 28, 2022 - 1:24 AM

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Tomorrow, average joes like you and me have to head back to work. So we’re feeling lazy. The Washington Wizards, on the other hand, are trying to have a belated Thanksgiving at home. And it showed today with a 130-121 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday evening.

Washington was dominated in the rebounds early on, allowing Boston to race to a 72-55 halftime lead. Interestingly enough, the Wizards only committed one turnover. But when a team allows an opponent to double them up on rebounds, In fact, no Wizards had more than three rebounds in the first half. That player? Bradley Beal.

To lead by 17 at the half, the Celtics had to have their fair share of scoring firepower. Jaylen Brown scored 17 of his 36 points in that half.

In the third quarter, Beal scored 18 of Washington’s 33 points in the period. That sounds great. Except that … the Celtics shot 76.5 percent from the field (13-of-17) and scored 41 — that’s right, FORTY-ONE — points of their own. At this point, it was garbage time. To add insult to injury, the Wizards weren’t doubled up on the rebounds, and they only turned the ball over once in the period. It just so happened that the Celtics’ shots were going in no matter what! Washington shot 47.8 percent overall in the third, which is decent. But … it just wasn’t their night.

Washington was able to get the margin down to single digits in the fourth quarter when the benches came out to play in garbage time. But by then it was too little, too late. While losing to the Celtics isn’t the worst thing in the world, the reality is that the Wizards were being embarrassed out there by a team led by Jayson Tatum, while Beal was leading Washington.

Beal finished with 30 points while Kristaps Porzingis added 21 more.

The Wizards are back in action tomorrow when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tip off is at 7 p.m ET. We’ll have the preview out in a few.