Magical Pixels, Wizards vs. Celtics: Washington steals one to complete three-game road sweep

The Washington Wizards showed some gumption yesterday, rallying to win 106-99 against the Boston Celtics after trailing significantly for much of the game.

Trevor Ariza carried Washington offensively with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting (5-of-8 form three), and the Wizards rode an 18-1 fourth quarter to victory. John Wall had a great game with 20 points, nine assists and six steals, and Kevin Seraphin came up huge in the first half, finishing the game with 13 points (6-of-9 shooting) and six rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Nene was solid as always, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, but Bradley Beal struggled with his shot, scoring only nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.

An obligatory Steez update, Jordan Crawford finished with 11 points and eight assists but also committed five turnovers as he was hounded defensively by Wall all game.

Great team win to complete a 3-0 road trip against Atlantic Division teams, and give the Wizards some momentum heading into a five-day layoff before their next game Friday in Minnesota. Hopefully Beal and Nene can use the time off to get healthier. On to the Pixels.

KEY LINKS

Road team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post (gamer, Ariza sidebar) | CSN Washington (recap, sidebar) | Wiz of Awes | DC Pro Sports Report | Ted's Take | Wizards.com | Monumental Network

Home team recaps: CelticsBlog | Boston Globe (gamer, Steez sidebar) | Boston Herald (gamer, Steez sidebar) | MassLive | CSN New England (recap, Steez sidebar) | ESPN Boston | NESN | Worcester Telegram | Metro West Daily News | Hardwood Houdini | Celtics Hub | CLNS Radio | WEEI | BostInno

Game highlights

Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | John Wall | Trevor Ariza | Nene | Bradley Beal | Marcin Gortat

KEY STATS

5:16 - The amount of time the Celtics went without a field goal as the Wizards completed an 18-1 run down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Avery Bradley broke the basket-less streak with a three-pointer with 35 seconds to play and a Washington win virtually secured.

TWEETS OF THE NIGHT

Trevor Ariza yells at Seraphin to move then passes to him for a dunk. #wizards https://t.co/MfiAAHcqre

— Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) December 21, 2013

Ariza has 27 points and I'm not sure I remember any of them. Did I black out?

— CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) December 21, 2013

All hail Lord Threeza! #Wizards pic.twitter.com/MesK1SC8CM

— Conor Dirks (@ConorDDirks) December 21, 2013

Wiz are about to sweep their Atlantic Division road trip. This one was the best win of the bunch.

— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) December 21, 2013

Coolin wit the guys afta anotha Great win @TrevorAriza & @GTemp14 !! pic.twitter.com/fQwkDTuHw1

— John Wall (@John_Wall) December 21, 2013

VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT

Glorious. (H/T @Wiz_Spurtin)

If you want the audio of Wall's photobomb of Webster's photobomb of Ariza's postgame interview, here you go. (H/T @Truth_About_It)

Admit it. You can't watch that greatness enough.

GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT

GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	Craig_	98
2	qthaballa	92
3	DCrez	85
4	JimmyWall	79
5	Wall_Hopeful	77
6	souldrummer	51
7	_Chris	42
8	FTT	33
9	DCeee	28
10	Banode	21
11	WIZ SPURTIN	16
12	DavidDunn	13
13	little stevie colter	13
14	Krobify	13
15	LRJ	13
16	KurisuDevil	9
17	hotplate	9
18	Baird15	7
19	DCPerspective	4
20	b3nz	4
21	Jordo	4
22	sierradave	4
23	oakhillsteeze	4
24	ExtraSpecialBitter	4
25	Durant	3
26	pplchamp	3
27	johnwallposterizes	3
28	daca	3
29	ShanghaiExpat	3
30	John Wall Stan	3
31	Mike Prada	3
32	khrabb	2
33	bartek.biadasiewicz	1
34	ts35	1
35	rsilbe	1
36	Hausernberg	1
37	All dc and unc	1
38	HijackedD	1
39	Rattling Bones	1
40	dave21110	1
41	thewiz06	1
42	SladeKillah	1
43	Llamaman	1
44	RonCarlos	1