On Wednesday at TD Garden, the Celtics (3-5) will play host to one of the NBA’s worst teams in the Washington Wizards (1-6).

This, of course, means nothing, as Boston just suffered an inexcusable loss on Monday night to the Utah Jazz (3-4), a team projected to be among the worst in the NBA who was playing on the second night of a back-to-back after being blown out just one night prior by a bad Hornets team (3-5).

I know it’s early in the season, but this has an air of “must win” to me. This team needs to show that their play style under head coach Joe Mazzulla is viable with their new-look roster. Because through eight games, it’s been extremely hit or miss, and has ultimately led to more blown leads than Ws.

If nothing else, this has to be a get-right game for a Boston team that still has aspirations of being a top five team in the Eastern Conference, even with Jayson Tatum likely out for the entire 2025-26 season while he rehabs his surgically repaired Achilles.

Betting Odds for Celtics vs. Wizards - November 5, 2025 (Full Game)

Spread: Celtics -11.5 (-115), Wizards +12 (-110)
Moneyline: Celtics -600, Wizards +460
Total: Over 232.5 (-115), Under 233.5 (-110)

Best number in each market via OddsTrader, which aggregates all the odds from every sportsbook to give you the best options to choose from.

Missed Monday night’s loss against the Jazz? Here were some takeaways:

1. Abysmal Night From 3

Just disgusting.

The Celtics were 11-51 from beyond the arc, good for 21.6% on the night.

ELEVEN FOR FIFTY-ONE…WOW!

I know head coach Joe Mazzulla is a big proponent of water finding its level, and preaches that his team try to shoot their way out of these slumps when they do occur - whether that’s for a stretch in a quarter or for a week’s worth of games.

But at a certain point, water will sink the ship before it finds its level, and that’s exactly what happened on Monday night.

Yes, some threes were hit late as the Celtics made a late push after already relinquishing the lead, but it was too little, too late.

Mazzulla, of course, said postgame that he didn’t mind his team’s shots despite the atrocious final number.

Here’s what he said postgame when asked what he’s seeing with his team’s 29th-ranked three point shooting right now:

“Yeah, I mean - I think most of them have been [good looks]. A tough shooting night, for sure, but we have to be able to knock down shots.”

I know it’s only an eight game sample size. But when you really think about it, that’s already about 10% of the season in the can. I’d say 10% is a solid enough sample size to use to look at what this group has done thus far and say, “You know what? Maybe we’ve got to switch things up.”

I’m not saying you need to eliminate the three-point shot altogether. Don’t be ridiculous. But what I am saying is that this team needs to run more sets that lend themselves towards getting action at the rim. Otherwise, they’re going to shoot themselves out of playoff contention.

2. Frontcourt Brain Drain Was Noticeable

When Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic grabbed that rebound and put in that bunny to take the lead with under a second to go, it was a microcosm of the main issue Celtics’ bigs have been dealing with all season long:

Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding.

Jazz won the battle on the boards on Monday 55-36, marking yet another night where the likes of Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis were sorely missed.

Had Boston fielded a more talented frontcourt in the waning moments of Monday night’s game, I’m certain Nurkic doesn’t end with the ball in his hands with a chance to make a play. And if he does, he certainly doesn’t get that good of a look.

The lack of depth with their bigs in 2025-26 is going to continue being one of the biggest storylines to follow throughout this season. And unfortunately for Celtics fans, I don’t see it getting better in this department any time soon.

Neemias Queta isn’t about to get any more athletic. Luka Garza isn’t going to wake up and become a better defender. Xavier Tillman is always going to be undersized. Sam Hauser isn’t putting on 25 pounds of muscle and becoming a bruiser any time soon.

Unless they make a trade, i believe this team’s lack of size will, ultimately, be their undoing.

3. Speaking of “Undoing…”

Why do the Celtics keep blowing leads?

With just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter, Boston had a 52-42 lead over Utah. Less than six minutes later, Utah was leading by 5 points at 66-61. And by the end of the quarter, the Jazz were up by just 2 points at 74-72. A true roller coaster of a quarter that saw Boston, figuratively barf all over themselves as Utah executed an impressive comeback.

At one point or another, Boston has held the lead in seven of eight games so far this season, with the lone exception being their loss to Houston on Saturday, yet somehow sit at 3-5 to start the season.

Mazzulla was asked postgame why he feels like this group is susceptible to blowing leads that should, more often than not, lead to wins:

“Yeah, I mean - it's transition defensive, keeping them off the free throw line and out of the bonus early. When you get into the bonus early, it’s tough to bounce back from that. So it's transition defense, it's offensive rebounds, and it's defending without fouling.”

^I don’t know if Boston is capable of this with the roster Brad Stevens has assembled.

4. Jaylen Brown Has Every Right To Bet Upset, But…

That missed tripping call by the officials late in the fourth quarter is not why the Celtics lost the game.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s really bad look for the ref:

Here’s what Brown said after the game. He didn’t hold back:

“Man, y'all gonna get me fines, because you can't have a mistake like that as an official at that point in the game. It's the fourth quarter, it's a minute left in the game or less, and you completely - the whole staff blows the f****** call. You know what I mean? Cost us a game. Like, unacceptable. You can make mistakes at any point at a game.

“But right there, that wasn't good, that wasn't good, that's unacceptable. And then they’re telling me, like, ‘We didn't see it.’ Like, I know you see it. You can't trip somebody in the fourth quarter and then just be a no call. It's some bull****.”

No bleeps on the NBC Sports Boston broadcast for Brown, which led to studio host Kayla Burton having to apologize for the “unplanned colorful language,” or however she put it.

I agree with Brown - it’s an atrocious missed call that the officials have to have. It’s a fast-paced game, they’re not going to bat 1.000. But when a pitcher throws you one 88mph right down the middle with basically no movement, you have to hit that puppy out of the park.

I also disagree with Brown - this is not why you lost on Monday.

You lost because you had one of the worst shooting nights in the history of the storied franchise, and because you’re bigs could not grab a board to save their lives.

5. Beef w/ Production Crew

I thought NBC Sports Boston made a critical mistake on Monday night, and it had nothing to do with anything that was said by anyone on the broadcast.

But with Drake Maye and Will Campbell sitting courtside, can you give me one, maybe two cutaways a quarter to the man who might just win MVP of the NFL in his second season?

Think about what all these broadcast networks did during Taylor Swift’s first season as a member of the Chiefs’ WAGs club. Football fans complained, but the spike in ratings spoke for themselves. People want to see famous people enjoying and interacting with the same content they are. It’s why influencers exist.

And with Maye, you’re even more justified to show the guy throughout the game given the audience and his profession. I would venture to guess 95% of the fans watching this game were Patriots fans. Maybe I’m shooting low there. It’s probably not 100%, but it’s damn near close. You mean to tell me it wouldn’t have been fun to see Maye reacting over the course of the game, both good and bad?

This was a rare opportunity for Boston fans to see Maye acting like a real human being. On Sundays, he has a helmet on, and rarely shows his personality on the football field, save for one brief touchdown celebration in Week 4 as an homage to Cam Newton. Outside of that, he’s all business. And when he talks to the media, both on the radio or at the podium, you see a masterclass in media training on full display. The man gives you nothing.

Unless there’s another content shoe to drop, I see this as a big time failure by the NBCSB crew. That’s how you make a November 3 game against the Utah Jazz interesting. Not by one generic sideline report from Abby Chin where she talks about Maye and Campbell being in the house.

I needed more, and it wasn’t provided.

Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.