Celtics overcome early deficit, defeat Wizards 123-111 in Game 1

What’s the story?

For about five minutes, Celtics fans wondered whether Game 1 against the Washington Wizards would be a replay of that earlier, terrible Game 1 against Chicago. The Wizards roared to a 16-0 start, prevented the Celtics from making a field goal for the first five minutes, and looked completely energised and dominant.

But the Celtics rallied and came close in the second quarter before bursting the dam in the third and seizing a large lead of their own. And when the game was over, it was the Celtics who finished with the double-digit victory.

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Isaiah Thomas went off for 33 points and 9 assists while also shooting 5-11 from long range and ending a shooting slump from the series against Chicago. He managed to pull off that incredible performance even after attending a funeral for his sister on the previous day and losing a tooth to an elbow from Otto Porter. Thomas played for a while even after the injury, then went to the locker room where the team doctor put the tooth back in place.

The Wizards duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal had 20 and 27 points respectively, along with 16 assists from Wall. But the Celtics also had Al Horford and Jae Crowder score over 20 points and the Celtics made 19 three-pointers compared to 10 for the Wizards.

The heart of the matter

If there was one thing which made the difference, it was Boston’s depth compared to Washington’s lack of it. Washington’s bench actually tied Boston’s bench in scoring at 27 thanks to hot shooting from Kelly Oubre and Bojan Bogdanovic, but the Celtics bench had 17 rebounds compared to 6 for the Wizards.

That rebounding advantage stemmed from an injury to Wizards’ starting power forward Markieff Morris. In the middle of the second quarter, Morris hit a jumper over Horford, but then landed on Horford’s foot and twisted his left ankle. Morris limped off the court and did not play for the rest of the game. The Washington Post reported that his foot was so swollen that he was “unable to put on his left shoe.”

What’s next?

Despite the setback, Morris confidently declared that he would be ready for the next game. But if he is hobbled, this will hamper a Wizards frontcourt which is already thin thanks to the loss of Ian Mahinmi to a calf strain. Mahinmi could return at some point in this second round, but the Wizards might have to ask centre Marcin Gortat to shoulder an ever bigger load.

Author’s Take

The Celtics should feel confident knowing that they fired on all cylinders after that awful start. Coach Brad Stevens made good adjustments, pulling out starting forward Gerald Green in favour of Marcus Smart and using Horford to bring the ball up on multiple possessions to confound Gortat.

The two teams will meet again on Tuesday, as the Wizards look once again to snatch home court away.