First time in the second round since 2012 deserves a series thread.
This regular season, the Celtics were 2-2 against the Wizards. Unsurprisingly, because it's the Wizards, the home team won every game. Let's recap.
11/9: Wizards win 118-93. Celtics without Crowder or Horford. Porter and Gortat combine for 47 points on 20/28 shooting. Celtics only score 8 points in the first quarter, after that it's basically a run and gun game, Celtics never make it interesting, Wizards stopped playing defense. Beal hardly played but Trey Burke subbed in and hit for 18 on 7/9 shooting. Without Horford or Crowder, Stevens played a lot of guards - AB, IT, and Smart were all 35 minutes+, Rozier played 14, and even Demetrius Jackson got some run.
1/11: Celtics win 117-108. No Bradley, Amir, Brown (Jordan Mickey with the start!). This was a king of the 4th game, IT with 20 of his 38 in the 4th. Porter was efficient again, with 20 points on 9/12 shooting. Bradley Beal had 35. Marcus Smart kept Wall in check (9 pts on 4/21) but the effort kept himself in check (9 pts on 3/11, 0/5 from 3). The Celtics played small in the 4th to open space for IT and it worked.
1/24. Wizards win 123-108. C's without Bradley, and Amir could only play 4 minutes on his sore ankle. Beal and Wall go off for 58 on 23/38. Going small didn't help, the C's guards all shot terribly (IT 7/19, Smart 4/13, Rozier 1/6). Markioff Morris somehow ended up with 19 points.
3/20. Celtics win 110-102. Game wasn't this close, Wizards were down 17 for much of the 4th then hit some 3's to go on a 10-2 run, the game largely stayed Celtics +10 the rest of the way. This was the only game where everyone was healthy, so that's good news for the C's, but since it was in Boston you can't take too much out of it. IT was leading scorer with 25 but was 2/10 from 3. Avery Bradley had 20.
On the season, the Wizards were 30-11 at home, 19-22 on the road.
I think the most likely thing is the C's winning in 7, with the home team winning all 7 games, and with at least one of the games in DC being a total shellacking that gets us worried.
This regular season, the Celtics were 2-2 against the Wizards. Unsurprisingly, because it's the Wizards, the home team won every game. Let's recap.
11/9: Wizards win 118-93. Celtics without Crowder or Horford. Porter and Gortat combine for 47 points on 20/28 shooting. Celtics only score 8 points in the first quarter, after that it's basically a run and gun game, Celtics never make it interesting, Wizards stopped playing defense. Beal hardly played but Trey Burke subbed in and hit for 18 on 7/9 shooting. Without Horford or Crowder, Stevens played a lot of guards - AB, IT, and Smart were all 35 minutes+, Rozier played 14, and even Demetrius Jackson got some run.
1/11: Celtics win 117-108. No Bradley, Amir, Brown (Jordan Mickey with the start!). This was a king of the 4th game, IT with 20 of his 38 in the 4th. Porter was efficient again, with 20 points on 9/12 shooting. Bradley Beal had 35. Marcus Smart kept Wall in check (9 pts on 4/21) but the effort kept himself in check (9 pts on 3/11, 0/5 from 3). The Celtics played small in the 4th to open space for IT and it worked.
1/24. Wizards win 123-108. C's without Bradley, and Amir could only play 4 minutes on his sore ankle. Beal and Wall go off for 58 on 23/38. Going small didn't help, the C's guards all shot terribly (IT 7/19, Smart 4/13, Rozier 1/6). Markioff Morris somehow ended up with 19 points.
3/20. Celtics win 110-102. Game wasn't this close, Wizards were down 17 for much of the 4th then hit some 3's to go on a 10-2 run, the game largely stayed Celtics +10 the rest of the way. This was the only game where everyone was healthy, so that's good news for the C's, but since it was in Boston you can't take too much out of it. IT was leading scorer with 25 but was 2/10 from 3. Avery Bradley had 20.
On the season, the Wizards were 30-11 at home, 19-22 on the road.
I think the most likely thing is the C's winning in 7, with the home team winning all 7 games, and with at least one of the games in DC being a total shellacking that gets us worried.