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Washington defeated the shorthanded Boston Celtics 118-93 Wednesday night. The Wizards got off to about as hot a start as a team can have, outscoring the Celtics 34 to 8 (yes, you read that right) in the first quarter. Otto Porter led the charge with 13 points in the opening frame, and Washington shot 54 percent while holding Boston to just 18 percent shooting.
The Wizards cooled off offensively in the second quarter, but what was really problematic was their defense. Washington gave up 35 second quarter points to the Celtics and their lead was trimmed to 15 heading into the second half.
Just when it looked like Boston was starting to build momentum after their hot second quarter shooting, the Wizards ended any hope of a comeback by extending the lead to 20 after three quarters. They coasted to an eventual 25-point victory.
Here is what we noticed in the Wizards’ second win:
Otto Porter had a career night
Porter finished with a career-high 34 points on 14-19 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. That’s historic.
Otto Porter with 34pts/14rebs/4asts/3stls/3blks/3 FG made/+18 tonight - first player in NBA history to those plateaus #WizCeltics
— David Devall (@McNubian) November 10, 2016
Early on, Otto did this:
Otto Porter got his night started with back-to-back threes. #WizCeltics pic.twitter.com/MbIyOfzsv0
— CSN Wizards (@CSNWizards) November 10, 2016
And later, he did this:
Porter was an absolute menace on both ends tonight, continuing his impressive rebounding as well as his deadly midrange shooting.
It was especially nice, however, to see Porter’s three-point shot continue to trend in the right direction. After not hitting any shots from beyond the arc in the Wizards’ first four games, he has now made seven in their last three after going 3-5 tonight. Porter has been the Wizards second best player so far this season and is quickly becoming one of the more productive wings in the Eastern Conference.
The Wizards were incredible in the first quarter
As mentioned earlier, the Wizards scored 34 points in the first quarter on 54 percent shooting. What is even more surprising is that they knocked down six threes in the opening frame. Washington was averaging just 5.8 three-point makes per game coming into tonight.
Despite their offensive explosion, however, their defense might have been even more impressive:
The Celtics scored 8 points in the 1st quarter - the fewest they've scored in the first in over 4 decades. pic.twitter.com/zgdkn0SK3u
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 10, 2016
The Celtics were fourth in the NBA in scoring going into this game and they didn’t even reach double digits in the first 12 minutes.
The Wizards’ starting backcourt members both had early exits
Beal was really struggling tonight with just 3 points in 11 minutes before going down with a right leg injury in the third quarter. Play was stopped and the Wizards training staff tended to him before he eventually walked off the court with a slight limp.
Washington announced later in the game, via Twitter, that it was just right hamstring tightness and Beal was questionable to return, although he never did.
After Wall was ejected in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ loss to the Rockets on Monday night after picking up his second technical foul, he was once again tossed tonight after getting called for a flagrant-two on Marcus Smart.
Wizards’ John Wall ejected for Flagrant 2 foul on Celtics’ Marcus Smart. Appeared to pull him down by the head/shoulders pic.twitter.com/M6SSQqXR2N
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) November 10, 2016
While the Wizards were up by more than 20 when Wall was kicked out, he is too valuable to the team to have to leave early in back-to-back games. Expect to see an announcement on whether or not the NBA will take any further action, as far as a fine or a suspension, in the next couple days.
Tweet of the night
Might as well prepare Otto’s max contract now at this point.
— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) November 10, 2016
With the way Porter’s been playing so far this season, he is going to become a VERY rich man this summer.