Game Info
When: Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time
Where: Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
TV: TNT
Injury Report
Wizards: Jabari Parker (Questionable, Knee), Jordan McRae (Questionable, Achilles), John Wall (Out, Heel), Dwight Howard (Out, Back), Trevor Ariza (Out, Groin)
Celtics: Daniel Theis (Questionable, Foot), Jaylen Brown (Probable, Back), Guerschon Yabusele (Probable, Foot), Aron Baynes (Out, Ankle), Gordon Hayward (Out, Ankle), Al Horford (Out, Knee), Kyrie Irving (Out, Knee), Marcus Morris (Out, Knee), Marcus Smart (Out, Oblique), Jayson Tatum (Out, Shin)
What to Watch for
Lottery odds!
The Celtics don’t have a reason to win Tuesday’s game. Boston will be the fourth seed in the playoffs. They can’t do anything to move up, and they can’t do anything to move down. That’s why the Celtics are resting all their key rotation players for the regular season finale.
The Wizards also don’t have a reason to win Tuesday’s game, but that’s because they have an incentive to lose. If they lose, they ensure they can’t finish with any worse than a tie for the sixth-best lottery odds. If they win, they could fall into a tie for the eighth-best odds, depending on how the Grizzlies, Mavericks, and Pelicans play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Of course, the Wizards aren’t just going to go out there and not play, especially since it’s a home game, Bradley Beal will no doubt want to keep his games played streak going, and since they have so many upcoming free agents who want to make a good final impression. Plus, the Celtics won’t pile on a lot of points with their skeleton crew, and they stand to benefit if Washington wins, which would help Memphis keep their pick this season and improve the Celtics’ chances of getting a better pick from the Grizzlies next season . But as the Wizards showed on Sunday night against the Knicks, their end of the bench lineup can lose leads in a hurry.