NBA: Celtics get off to fast start, hang on to beat Wizards
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics drives against Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards during the game at TD Garden on October 30, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. Nick Grace/Getty Images/AFP
Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and Jayson Tatum and Malcolm Brogdon each added 23 to lead the host Boston Celtics to a 112-94 win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday night.
Brown also grabbed 10 rebounds, Tatum hit five 3-pointers and Brogdon finished with a season-high in points for the Celtics, who snapped a two-game losing skid.
Grant Williams rounded out Boston’s double-digit scorers with 10 points off the bench.
Kristaps Porzingis was a rebound away from a double-double in the first half and went on to finish with 17 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Wizards, who have lost back-to-back games.
Rui Hachimura added 13 points and Bradley Beal chipped in 12 for Washington.
Tatum knocked down consecutive 3-pointers as part of Boston’s opening 11-2 run that forced a Washington timeout. Tatum (11 points) and Brown (10) combined for all 21 of Boston’s points on 8-of-10 shooting over the first five minutes.
By first quarter’s end, Tatum and Brown hit five of the Celtics’ six treys and combined for a total of nine in the game. The duo took the team’s first 12 shots and scored 23 points before Marcus Smart’s driving layup with 4:06 left in the opening frame.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each dropped 20+ PTS to secure the @celtics win tonight.
Tatum: 23 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 5 3PM
Brown: 24 PTS, 10 REB, 4 3PM pic.twitter.com/yLb49EvAPh— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2022
Porzingis was 3-for-5 in the period, but the rest of the Wizards were 3-for-18.
The second quarter was a different story, as Washington cut the deficit to 58-47 by halftime thanks to a 12-0 run.
A Porzingis tip-in with four seconds left brought the Wizards within single digits, but Tatum fed Brogdon for a driving layup just before the buzzer to extend the lead.
Boston was just 8-for-22 from the field and committed four turnovers in the second.
The Celtics bounced back and made it a 19-point game through three quarters thanks to 3-pointers from Brogdon, Brown and Sam Hauser in the final 2:19 of the third.
Boston led by as many as 25 in the final frame.
