After looking like garbage in the first two games, Paul Pierce (27 points, 7 rebounds) and his teammates got off to a great start as they led 17-2 to begin the contest. The C's got the first quarter lead up to 16 (24-8) but surprisingly they would need all that cushion since the Wizards outscored them in the other three quarters.
Kevin Garnett had 15 points and seven rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 12 points and 12 assists (27th straight game with 10+ assists) and Jeff Green scored 11 off the bench. Jared Sullinger had seven rebounds in his first career start and Jason Terry had eight points off the bench.
It was a bizarre game as Washington's starters only scored 24 points, meaning their bench outscored Boston's 62-27. Jordan Crawford led the Wizards with 21 points, Kevin Seraphin had 19 points and seven rebounds while Trevor Booker was the only starter in double-figures with 11 points.
Without its two best players-John Wall and Nene-a loss to Washington, even on the second night of a back-to-back would have been awful for the Celtics. After leading 26-12 after one quarter, it was 49-42 Boston at halftime. Washington cut it to 71-67 heading into the fourth quarter.
For a brief second, Seraphin put them ahead 86-84 with 2:56 left but Pierce answered with a 3-pointer and the Celtics held on. For some reason, Martell Webster took a fadeaway 3 on Washington's last shot when they only trailed by one point. Terry hit a pair of free throws with one second left to clinch it.
When you look at the numbers, it's hard to figure out how the C's won. The Wizards had 11 more rebounds (46-35), six more fastbreak points (17-11) and six more points in the paint (32-26). As if this game wasn't thrilling enough for you, both teams have no games for the next three days and then they meet again in Boston on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., CSN). If you know what's good for you, don't accept tickets to that stinker.
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