Boston Celtics At Washington Wizards: Regular Season Game 42 Open Thread

We are halfway home. Tonight's game against the Boston Celtics marks the mid-point of the season for the Washington Wizards and a fitting litmus test for the progress they have made this season. For those of you who believe in silver linings, you can hold out hope that last night's performance woke the team up and that there remains a sliver of a chance that the Wizards can squeak out a win or at the very least keep it competitive. For those who only see storm clouds, tonight the Wizard's face a team that ruthlessly dismantles its opponent and takes from pleasure in traveling on the road and silencing opponent's fans.

However, stranger things have happened and the Wizards do not have to deal with either O'Neal tonight. Delonte West and Kendrick Perkins are still on the shelf, and the Celtics are coming off a back to back. The key to this game will be to get Pierce or Garnett into early foul trouble and hope that the Wizards can hang with the Celtics second unit. It's a tall order, but probably the only hope that the Wizards have for this game.

Mike had a chance to talk with Doc Rivers before the game and got the following quote comparing John Wall to Rajon Rondo:

"There are a lot of similarities. I don't know if they're the same type of player, but they both have the speed component, and they both have great vision. I think John has terrific vision and it's going to get better. He's going to learn how to play with the speed. That's the biggest crutch for all young players. They have speed. They don't know when to use it and when not to use it. He's going to learn that too."

GO WIZARDS!

Wizards Starters

PG John Wall

SG Nick Young

SF Rashard Lewis

PF Andray Blatche

C JaVale McGee

Celtics Starters

PG Rajon Rondo

SG Ray Allen

SF Paul Pierce

PF Kevin Garnett

C Semih Erden