The Washington Wizards will be striving to end a five-game losing streak when they visit the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Inconsistency at the defensive end of the court has been a major issue for Washington, which has allowed at least 119 points in six of its seven games. The Wizards enter Wednesday’s matchup allowing an average of 127.0 points per game. Brooklyn (127.6) is the only NBA team allowing more through Monday’s games.
“It’s all about defense,” Washington guard Bilal Coulibaly said. “Playing defense is going to get us more wins, so that’s what we gotta do. … We all have to be on the same page and focus.”
The Wizards held the Knicks to 22 points in the first quarter and 21 points in the fourth quarter during New York’s 119-102 home victory Monday, but Washington surrendered a total of 76 points in the middle two quarters.
“Just get better,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said. “That’s what you can control. That’s the great thing about our group. They’re always focused on what we can learn and then take that information and bring it into the next game, and I think we’re seeing that. We’re growing in certain ways. That’s all you can do.”
The Celtics have plenty of things to fix as well. Boston is 1-3 at home this season and will be desperate to avoid a third straight home loss Wednesday. Boston blew a 14-point first-half lead and dropped a 105-103 decision to Utah at home Monday. The Jazz scored 38 points in the third quarter after being held to 36 points in the first half.
“Our first half was great, and I think the third quarter, they got the best of us, and they played harder than us,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “It was a combination of just transition, offensive rebounds, and then some of their dribble-drive stuff, not being able to defend without fouling. So you have to be able to put a full game together. The first half was good. Third quarter cost us, and when it’s a close game like that, it’s anybody’s game.”
Boston shot 11-for-51 on 3-point attempts (21.6%) in the loss. The Celtics are shooting 31.2% from 3-point territory this season. Only Indiana has a worse 3-point field-goal percentage (30.2).
“It’s a new team, so we’re figuring it out,” Boston guard Payton Pritchard said. “We’re learning. We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to keep getting better at and we’re willing to work. So we’re going to get better at it and we’ll grow. And by the end of the season, I can promise we’re going to be a better team than when we started. So that’s a promise.”
Forward Kyshawn George is Washington’s leading scorer (17.9 ppg). Center Alex Sarr leads the team in rebounds (8.4), assists (4.1) and blocked shots (2.1) to go with 17.3 ppg.
Jaylen Brown (26.8 ppg) leads Boston in scoring, but guards Derrick White (26.3%) and Pritchard (21.3%) have both struggled from behind the 3-point arc.
“Just gotta figure out a way to play for 48 minutes,” White said. “It’s simple. I mean, it’s not simple, but that’s what we have to do.”
