Jayson Tatum tossed in a game-high 35 points and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 34 to help the Boston Celtics defeat the visiting Washington Wizards 133-129 on Friday.
Boston trailed by seven at halftime but took control by outscoring Washington 36-16 in the third quarter, when Porzingis scored 14 points and Tatum had 13. Tatum also contributed 10 rebounds and eight assists in the win, while Porzingis went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line and grabbed 11 boards.
The Wizards trailed by four with 51.4 seconds left, but Porzingis extended the lead to six by making a jump shot with 30.7 seconds to play.
The victory extended Boston’s winning streak to three games and improved the Celtics’ home record to 25-3.
Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert each scored 24 points for the Wizards, who have lost five in a row. Avdija added 11 rebounds. Washington received 21 points from Bilal Coulibaly and 19 from Jordan Poole. The Wizards connected on 20 of their 47 3-point attempts (42.6 percent).
Jrue Holiday made nine of his 13 field-goal attempts and wound up with 20 points for the Celtics, who had a 62-42 advantage in points in the paint.
Although Boston’s Payton Pritchard made a 50-foot shot at the first-quarter buzzer, Washington held a 35-31 lead after the first 12 minutes. The Wizards scored 18 fastbreak points in the quarter.
The Celtics had a 62-57 lead late in the second quarter, but the Wizards ended the quarter on a 14-2 run and had a 71-64 halftime lead. Kuzma put Washington in front 65-64 by making a 3-pointer with 57.1 seconds remaining in the half before Poole and Avdija each added a 3-pointer.
Boston used a 13-2 run in the third quarter to build a 97-85 advantage, and Tatum capped the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 100-87 advantage entering the fourth.
–Field Level Media
