Wizards wallop Celtics in Game 3, 116-89: 3 takeaways
By John Buhler
The Washington Wizards whoop the Boston Celtics badly in Game 3 on Thursday at the Verizon Center, 116-89. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Game 3.
The Washington Wizards started Game 3 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinals on fire. They went out and whooped the Boston Celtics 39-17 in the first quarter. At one point in the first frame, Washington would go on a 22-0 run and the Wizards never looked back.
Game 3 clearly went the Wizards way, as they walloped the Celtics 116-89 on Thursday night. It was a blowout almost from the get go, but tensions were high in this game with Wizards wing Kelly Oubre Jr. and Celtics guard Terry Rozier both getting ejected.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Wizards’ victory over the Celtics in Game 3.
Takeaways
Balanced scoring is the best scoring for the Wizards. This was a different sort of offensive game for the Wizards. They didn’t have to lean exclusively on their starting backcourt of point guard John Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal to keep pace with the opposition offensively.
Wall did have a game-high 24 points and Beal had an off-night shooting the basketball with 11 points on 4-12 shooting. Washington benefited substantially from all five starters and wing Bojan Bogdanovic having double digits in scoring.
The Wizards have not had Otto Porter Jr., Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat on the same page offensively for an entire playoff game during this run. Porter had 19, Morris finished with 10 Gortat even had 13 points to go with his ridiculous 16 rebounds. Balanced scoring could end up giving the Wizards more of an opportunity for advancement in these NBA Playoffs. They apparently have more offense than just Wall and Beal.
Boston had zero interest in rebounding in Game 3. The Celtics are not a good rebounding team by any means. It could end up being their fatal flaw in the 2017 Eastern Conference Playoffs. Their starting lineup isn’t elite, but this team is deep enough to offset a lack of star power in the starting five.
However, Boston can’t be pummeled this horrifically on the glass. Though Washington only won the rebounding battle 50-38, it felt so much worse. Gortat mauled the Celtics on the glass, as his Wizards had 13 offensive rebounds and 37 defensive rebounds.
It evened out a tad in the second half of the fourth quarter, but second-chance opportunities and the Wizards’ ability to fly up the court in transition was ultimately the biggest difference in this game. Washington may not end up winning this series, but the Wizards have exposed to the rest of the NBA how to crush the Celtics in a meaningful playoff game.
The blowout didn’t stop the inherent animosity between both teams. It didn’t matter that this game was never close. Boston and Washington have developed quite the rivalry this season. We’re only three games into the best-of-seven series, but things are only going to get feistier the rest of the way.
Oubre was ejected for shoving Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk to the floor in the first half. Rozier was assessed a double technical in the final frame. There were other moments in the game where inherent animosity got the best of these two teams. Unfortunately, these scufflings resulted in an overall ugly game.
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Don’t expect the hostility to go away until this series comes to a close. Though many of us would appreciate a rivalry or two in the NBA, the aggressiveness displayed between Boston and Washington feels a tad forced and has created a sloppy television product. That being said, the Battle of the Kellys was a riveting few seconds in an otherwise laughable rout.