A balanced scoring effort propels the Wizards in Game 3

0
1026

The Wizards came into Game 3 knowing it was basically a must win. After two games of suffering at the hands of Isaiah Thomas and company, the Wizards answered with a very balanced scoring effort led by 24 points and 8 assists from John Wall. Wall did not have his best game from the field only going 7-19 from the floor but did a lot of his work from the line going 9-10 from the charity stripe.

The difference maker for Washington was the efficiency they received from Otto Porter Jr. who went 8-13 from the field for 19 pts, and a great performance in the paint from Marcin Gortat who produced a double-double effort with 13 pts and 16 rebounds.

The past two games had been physical, but none were as physical as tonight when a moving pick from Kelly Olynyk on Kelly Oubre Jr. caused Oubre’s emotions to get the best of him.

The technical foul by Oubre Jr. eventually lead to his ejection, and could possibly mean a one-game suspension in the series once the league reviews the incident and makes a decision.

A key to the Washington win was the efforts they gave on the defensive side of the floor. The Celtics had 0 players score 20+ points, and the Wizards were able to hold Isaiah Thomas to just 3-8 from the floor for 13 points.

It was efforts like you see above that made the Celtics have to try and create so many extra passes to get an open shot, making the Celtics work hard for every basket. The Wizards took advantage of Celtics mismatches in the paint and completely destroyed them, targeting the Isaiah Thomas mismatch on Otto Porter, Jr.

What sent this game into cruise control for the Wizards is when they went on a 22-0 run in the first quarter, controlling every aspect of the game.

It has been a very physical series thus far, and it showed tonight with the type of game we saw with an ejection and plenty of other exchanges throughout the game.

Overall, the Wizards should feel very good about their performance heading into Game 4. An effort like this from their starting five, and getting 19 points from a three-point threat off the bench like Bojan Bogdanovic is what had them controlling the game for 48 minutes.

As for the Celtics, even though Isaiah Thomas seemed to be off, he was still able to create opportunities for others, and get to the line 11 times. Thomas had to reduce his minutes in this game as he left the first half early, and did not start the second half due to the tooth injury he is still suffering from.

Isaiah Thomas had a tough time with Otto Porter tonight. Putting Thomas on Porter was tough because once Porter was able to establish his position in the paint, Thomas just did not have an answer for him, especially in the first half.

The Celtics still lead the series 2-1, but the Wizards are showing them why they were one of the most dominant home teams in the league this year. With the next game being in Washington, the Celtics have to find a way to use the screen for Thomas to their advantage, something they were unable to do tonight.

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here