The Boston Celtics advanced to 3-0 on the young season with their 126-107 rout over the Washington Wizards on Monday night. It was a true wire-to-wire victory for the Celtics, as Washington never held a lead.
A fast start was all Boston needed, outscoring the Wizards 42-19 in the first quarter. The Celtics shot 18-of-28 (64.3%) from the field in the opening frame, with nine of their 18 first quarter makes coming in the restricted area as they took advantage of a very small Wizards lineup that featured Kyle Kuzma at center in the absence of Daniel Gafford.
Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Boston’s starters recorded 100 points for the second consecutive game. More impressively, Boston’s starters managed to put up 100 points in just three quarters, as none of the five starters played in the fourth quarter, with Boston holding a 33-point lead entering the fourth.
Here are three takeaways from Monday night’s dominant victory.
Offense finds cohesion
Monday night was the best we have seen the new-look Celtics look offensively. As a unit, Boston’s starters shot a combined 40-of-64 (62.5%) and racked up 19 assists. The Celtics, who entered Monday night’s contest ranked second-to-last in the league in assists per game (19), finished the night with 32.
The ball was moving around freely all night, as the Celtics were exploiting mismatches and generating wide-open looks with their spacing and ball movement. With Brown having one of the best shooting nights of his career, the C’s were looking to feed the hot hand.
The elite talent has been able to overcome the early offensive struggles as the team continues to find a feel for each other. The chemistry looked much improved Monday night as the Celtics took advantage of a lousy Wizards defense, and will only improve the more games this unit plays together.
Tatum and Brown make a statement
Monday night was simply a monster night for the Jays. Tatum and Brown combined 69 points on 27-of-45 (60%) shooting in just three quarters of work. Monday night marked the 23rd time Tatum and Brown each had 30+ points, with the Celtics advancing to 22-1 in such games.
Brown had a historic first half, setting a new career-high for most points in a half with 27 on 9-of-16 (60%) shooting from the field and 7-of-10 (70%) from deep. Brown’s seven made threes in the first half tied Derrick White for the most threes made in any half in Celtics history.
Brown finished the night with 36 points and zero turnovers in 31:32 minutes, looking plenty deserving of the super-max extension he signed over the season.
Tatum mentioned on media day that he had added 12 pounds over the offseason. The 25-year-old looks bigger this season and has played bigger so far. Tatum was aggressive again on Monday night, getting downhill and attacking the rim. Tatum finished with 33 points on the night, with 16 points coming in the paint, where he shot 8-of-9 (88.9%). The three-time All-NBA selection also shot 4-of-9 (44.4%) from deep.
The Jays nearly outscored the Wizards' whole team through the first three quarters.
Bench continues to struggle
One of the only negatives from Monday night’s beatdown was the bench. Boston’s bench has struggled to find offensive production early on, and that continued Monday night.
With the starters pulled after the third quarter, Boston’s bench saw some extended run in the fourth quarter and offered some very uninspiring minutes.
The C’s reserves were out-scored 32-18 in the fourth quarter by what was mostly reserves for Washington. Boston’s bench totaled a whopping nine turnovers in the final frame.
Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser did not provide much production again. Pritchard finished the night 0-of-8 from the field and 0-of-6 from deep as he failed to record a bucket. Hauser finished with eight points, shooting 3-of-10 (30%) from the field and 2-of-9 (22.2%) from deep.
As a unit, the Celtics’ bench finished the night with just 26 points on 30% shooting with 11 turnovers.
We are just three games in, but the lack of production from the bench is shaping up to be a massive concern.
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