Written by Eric Freeman at YahooSports.com
The Washington Wizards received a lot of attention for their decision to wear all black to Tuesday night’s home game against the Boston Celtics, and not because everyone thought it was supremely badass and cool. In simple terms, taking the funereal approach to a January contest against the No. 3 team in the East only looked warranted to the Wizards and their most intense fans. The minor tussle between the teams that followed Boston’s January 11 win — complete with Jae Crowder’s nose-booping of John Wall — was certainly notable and added to a prior history of bad blood, but it didn’t exactly seem to require a full-scale feud. Better to leave those extreme actions for the playoffs.
Whatever the rationale for the Wizards’ blackout, it was hard to argue with the results. Washington controlled the night from start to finish, opening up a 33-24 lead after one quarter and maintaining a similar margin throughout on the way to an impressive 123-108 win. The majority of the Wizards’ success came at the offensive end, where they shot 57.8 percent from the field and 45 percent from deep (9-of-20) with four starters scoring at least 16 points. The scoring also came consistently, with three quarters of at least 32 points and none with fewer than 25.
As in so many other games over the past few weeks, the bulk of the damage came from the Wizards’ backcourt stars. Shooting guard Bradley Beal was especially impressive, scoring 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting with five assists and several highlight-reel plays in the fourth quarter. Beal also didn’t just get hot from beyond the arc — he went just 2-of-5 on threes and succeeded most in transition and made five of his field goals inside of 10 feet.
Point guard John Wall, a near-certain All-Star selection when reserves are announced Thursday, was not far off. He posted 27 points (11-of-20 FG), seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in the kind of performance that’s becoming typical for the 26-year-old. Now in his sevneth season, Wall looks every bit the franchise-changing talent he was touted as when Washington selected him first-overall in 2010.
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