NBA: Celtics in complete control while dominating Wizards
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics. Kathryn Riley/ Getty Images/AFP
Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum added 22 as the Boston Celtics routed the visiting Washington Wizards 144-102 on Sunday.
Derrick White had 17 points for Boston, which led by as many as 43 in its regular-season home finale and will finish the regular-season schedule with three road games. Grant Williams scored 16 points, Payton Pritchard added 14 and Aaron Nesmith had 11 for Boston.
The Celtics (49-30) began the day two games behind the top-seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference and moved past the Milwaukee Bucks into second place.
Kristaps Porzingis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope paced the Wizards (34-44) with 17 points apiece. Ish Smith scored 16 points, Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert added 10 apiece and Tomas Satoransky had seven points and seven assists.
Washington had won four of its previous five games but trailed 35-22 after the first quarter. Brown made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the opening period for Boston.
.@FCHWPO notches back-to-back 32-point performances as Boston dominates with a 42-point victory! ☘️ #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/JCqSVbdPfV
— NBA Philippines (@NBA_Philippines) April 4, 2022
The Wizards played without forward Kyle Kuzma, who missed his ninth straight game with right knee tendinitis.
Brown scored 19 points in the first half and the Celtics took a 70-59 advantage into the break. Boston shot 63.6 percent for the half, including 9 of 18 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.
Boston began the third quarter with a 17-7 run and extended its lead to 87-66 on Tatum’s dunk with 5:52 left in the period.
The Celtics rested their starters after taking a 104-79 lead into the fourth quarter. Pritchard’s 3-pointer with 8:03 remaining extended the lead to 124-81.
Al Horford had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Boston, which earned a split of the four-game season series against Washington. The Celtics shot a season-high 61.5 percent from the field, went 23 of 44 (52.3 percent) from 3-point range and also had a season-high 39 assists.
Daniel Theis started his second straight game in place of injured Celtics center Robert Williams (torn meniscus) and finished with six points in 24 minutes.
Williams is hoping to return before the second round of the playoffs for Boston, which ends the regular season on the road against the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies.
