Wizards vs. Celtics final score: Porzingis, Avdija lead Washington to 130-111 victory

After many bad losses in the post All-Star Break, the Washington Wizards somehow, someway pulled off a big win against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, 130-111.

No Bradley Beal? No Kyle Kuzma? No problem. Kristaps Porzingis and Deni Avdija made up for the deficit. They scored a combined 57 points with Porzingis scoring 32 and Avdija adding 25.

It wasn’t like the Celtics came to this game without the services of their star players. Jayson Tatum still played more than 30 minutes and scored 28 points. But Washington led for most of this game, and tonight was just one of those nights where the stars aligned in Washington’s favor. In other words, this is just how the NBA is. Lottery teams beat championship contenders regular in a one-off setting. Tonight, the Wizards were just the better team shooting 54 percent from the field and outrebounding the Celtics 54-44.

Do I wish the Wizards played as well as they did tonight all season long? Absolutely. Unfortunately, I think this win is too little, too late for a run at the play-in.

The Wizards’ next game is against the Orlando Magic on Friday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET. See you then.