The Washington Wizards might want to talk to the people who make the NBA schedule after this weekend. Making a team play the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics back-to-back over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, at the end of a week-long road trip, seemed a bit out of the question. Chicago and Boston may celebrate this holiday more than any other big city in the U.S

The Wizards, who have a lot of injuries, played against the Celtics and lost again, this time by a score of 130–104. The Celtics had a team full of players who usually sit at the end of the bench.

The Wizards (11–57) did not suddenly get back to full strength on the second night of a back-to-back, which did not surprise anyone. Along with Deni Avdija (knee), Marvin Bagley III (back), Tyus Jones (back), Landry Shamet (calf), and Isaiah Livers (hip), they went the other way and added Bilal Coulibaly (wrist) and Kyle Kuzma (shoulder). Kuzma was having trouble with a sore shoulder, and Coulibaly hurt his wrist in Saturday’s game.

 

As the third quarter came to a close, backup big man Eugene Omoruyi fell to the floor and grabbed his ankle and heel after hitting a Celtics player on the foot. This added another name to the list. The play didn’t look like there was any contact, and Omoruyi hopped to the changing room without putting any weight on his hurt foot.

Later, the Wizards said he hurt his left ankle.

 

The Wizards were no longer in charge by the time Omoruyi fell. The Celtics (53-24) have the best record in the NBA. Capital One Arena felt like home to them, and most of the fans would have been wearing green even if it wasn’t St. Patrick’s Day. The Celtics beat their opponents easily, even without Jaylen Brown (ankle), Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring), and Derrick White (hand). They shot a crazy amount of threes and scored 45 points in the first quarter. Near the end of the second half, they had a 33-point lead.

Someone called Jayson Tatum “MVP” a lot of times. He scored 30 points and made eight out of seventeen shots from the field, including six three-pointers. Sam Hauser scored a career-high 30 points in just 23 minutes, making all 10 of his shots from beyond the line. When he left the game after turning his ankle, he got a standing ovation.

 

“Hauser, that’s what he does, catch-and-shoot guy,” said Brian Keefe, the temporary coach of the Wizards. “. . . He got a little loose during some scrambles, offensive rebounds, and transitions. There were several ways he got it. You should try to make that as hard as you can because Tatum is going to make tough shots. It seemed like he got a few easier looks than we would have liked.

 

The Celtics made 24 of 50 three-point shots, which is only four short of the Wizards’ club record for three-pointers made by an opponent, which was set in Houston in 2018.

Washington had no way to get help. The Wizards didn’t want to go into the paint because they were outmatched and too small. Instead, they spent too much of the first half trying to make up for lost ground from beyond the line, but their shots wouldn’t fall. From behind the three-point line, they made 10 of 34 shots.

Because everyone in the starting group was hurt, Jordan Poole started for the second game in a row in Jones’ place. He led the team with 31 points on 12 of 19 shooting.

The guard Justin Champagnie joined the Wizards last month on a 10-day deal and ended up getting a two-way deal. He started with Poole, Corey Kispert, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Richaun Holmes and had 14 points and eight boards. Adding him to the starting group at the last minute meant that he had to guard Tatum right away.

Champagnie smiled and said, “That’s tough, of course.” “Today I had to take my little lumps. He got a lot of points. But I’ll watch the video again to see what I did wrong and what I can learn from the game. Just try to get better all the time. Without a doubt, it felt good to go out there and fight.

Along with his 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists, forward Anthony Gill scored 13 points off the bench.