(Picture above from Washington Wizards twitter @WashWizards)

General Game Information:

Where: TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts

When: Tuesday, May 2 at 8 pm EST

Where to Watch: TNT

Injuries:

Wizards: Ian Mahinmi – out (calf); Markieff Morris – doubtful although Morris says he will play (ankle)

Celtics: none

What to Watch For:

WIZARDS THREE POINT DEFENSE (OR LACK THEREOF)

Anyone who watched Game 1 knows that the Wizards gave up way too many open three point looks to the Celtics. Of the 7 Celtics to play double digit minutes in the game, 5 shot 36% or better from three during the regular season. In other words, while they probably won’t make 19 threes on 49% shooting again, the Celtics will knock down threes if they are left open. Defending the three has been a problem all season for Washington. They ranked 29th in the NBA in opponents’ three point percentage after the All-Star Break, allowing opponents to shoot 38.8% from beyond the arc (stats via NBA.com). So while I expect the Celtics to continue to make a decent amount of threes, making 19 again still seems unlikely, but 10-15 a game is a very realistic number. If the Wiz can’t defend the three ball better, they will lose this series.

BENCH DISADVANTAGE

The Wizards had a 14 point lead entering the second quarter, but that was quickly wiped out as the Celtics bench outplayed the Wizards bench and tied the game. Outside of a 2 minute fourth quarter stretch where Bojan Bogdanovic caught fire and scored 10 in a row, Kelly Oubre was the only real bench contributor and he had to take over Morris’ role when he got injured. So in other words, the only real bench help was Bogdanovic’s 2 minute spurt. The Celtics, on the other hand, received big contributions from Marcus Smart, Kelly Olynyk, and Terry Rozier off the bench. Everyone knew the Celtics bench was better, but the Wizards cannot afford for their bench to get outplayed that badly. Let’s hope they improve in Game 2.

STAR-STUDDED POINT GUARD MATCHUP

Neither John Wall or Isaiah Thomas disappointed in this hyped up point guard matchup. Wall had 20 points and 16 assists while Thomas had 33 and 9. I would say that Thomas won the matchup just barely because of his three point shooting and Wall’s 8 turnovers. John Wall hates losing, hates the Celtics, and hates being outplayed by other point guards, so I expect him to come out and dominate Game 2 and outplay IT4. Like I said in my series preview, the winner of the series will come down to who wins the point guard battle.

Prediction:

The game goes back and forth, the Wizards exploit Thomas’ awful defense, the Celtics remain hot from beyond the arc, and defense is nowhere to be found, but John Wall will come out as a man on a mission and be the difference maker, leading the Wizards to a win behind 30 points and 10 assists. Wizards 124 – Celtics 121

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*all stats via Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted