The Washington Wizards will look to end its ten-game losing streak when they travel to face the Boston Celtics on Saturday night
Washington Wizards (16-49) (5-27 away) vs. Boston Celtics (43-23) (21-10 home)
When: Saturday, March 14, 6:00 PM
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV: Monumental Sports Network, League Pass
To end off a brutal road trip for the Wizards, they will look to end their 10 game losing streak against the second place team in the east the Boston Celtics.
The Wizards are ending one of their most historic road trips in recent memory, all for the wrong reasons. To recap, Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo scored the second most points in a game in NBA history, 83, to pass the late Kobe Bryant. Washington also fell last game to the Orlando Magic by five point, after young Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly scored 29 points and forced overtime with a big time shot. The team they had the best shot against the ended up losing to the New Orleans Pelicans 138-118, and the end the trip with a monster of a Celtics squad, coming off two close losses against the top two teams in the west.
In their previous two matchups, Boston beat Washington by 29+ points at least in both contests. Washingtons main game plan will structure around limiting the three ball, as that's Bostons sweet spot. Now that Washington is officially eliminated from playoff contention, they're playing for pride and most importantly, a high draft pick.
One game ahead of the last place Indiana Pacers, losing would continue to give themselves a shot at a higher pick. However, with less than 20 games to play in the season, this gives a test to the new-look Wizards with Trae Young in the roster now. And after another encouraging showing from Alex Sarr in Thursday's loss with the second year center still on a minutes restriction, Saturday gives him a chance to flash his chemistry with Young against one of the NBA's best. This matchup will be good exposure and will give a look for this squad to see how they can potentially play for next season, where they can become a much more competitive team.
The Wizards injury list as of Saturday morning consists of Sharife Cooper (ankle) as GTD and Kyshawn George (elbow) OUT, Anthony Davis (finger) OUT, D'Angelo Russell (Not Injury Related) OUT. For Boston, star Jayson Tatum will be playing his first game against Washington this season after his ruptured achilles tear. Their injury report lists Nikola Vucevic as out while both Derrick White (knee) and Baylor Scheierman (ankle) are ruled as game time decisions.