Wizards vs. Celtics preview: Washington faces key road game in Boston

Game Info

When: Monday, March 20th at 7:30 pm EST
Where: TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
TV: CSN Mid-Atlantic
Radio: 1500 AM and Wizards Radio App

Injury Report

Wizards: Markieff Morris (Questionable, Illness)

Celtics: Isaiah Thomas (Probable, Knee)

Things to Watch:

This game is going to be FUN

These two teams have played meaningful games for what seems like all season. The last two games, specifically, have been must-see TV. The loss to the Celtics on January 11th seemed to really kick things into gear for the Wizards. Wall shot 4-21 from the field in the loss while Isaiah Thomas had 38 points. The loss sent the Wizards back to .500 at 19-19 on the season. This was also the game where Crowder and Wall got in a little post-game scuffle.

Thirteen days later, they played The Funeral Game. As you likely remember, the Wizards wore all black in a very public show of disdain for the Celtics. The Wiz-Kids came out energized and beat the guys in green 123-108. Wall and Beal combined to score 58 points in the win. These two teams don’t like each other and that always makes for a fantastic game.

This game has playoff seeding implications

The Celtics are sitting in 2nd place with a record of 44-26. The Wizards are 1.5 games behind them at 42-27. The Wizards have gone 23-8 since they faced off on January 11. In the same time frame, the Celtics have gone 20-10.

If Washington wins on Monday, they’ll move half a game behind Boston and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Boston wins, they’ll take a 2.5 game lead with 12 games left on the Wizards’ schedules. Should the Wizards overcome that deficit and tie things up at the end of the regular season, the next tiebreaker would be each team’s record within the conference, where the Celtics currently hold the edge.

Can the Wizards put a whole game together?

The Wizards haven’t played a complete game in what seems like a while. Whether it’s one player having a terrible game, or the whole team getting down early, the Wizards just haven’t been playing like they were before the All-Star break. This is most certainly going to be a game that the Wizards want to get up for, so we’ll see if that leads to a more complete game.

Most Likely Wizards Killer: Amir Johnson

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Amir Johnson doesn’t often have great offensive outings, but he is a previous film room all-star because he does things that give his team a good chance of winning and that includes being a defensive stalwart. He sets hard screens and is a great individual defender. With Morris potentially out, Johnson might be able to put out a good offensive game as well as be his usual menacing self on defense.