If Only Every Team In The NBA Were As Hopeless As The Washington Wizards

Thank God the Celtics only play the Wizards one more time this season and it's not until April 7 at that. These past two games between the teams have been so awful, for many reasons, that I'm happy to say Boston (2-2, 1-1 home) won't see Washington (0-3, 0-2 away) again for a long time.

Tonight at TD Garden, the C's followed the same pattern from Saturday's closer-than-it-should-be win in DC: they got up early then let the Wizards hang around for way too long. Luckily, since they are one of the worst teams in the NBA, Washington managed to crap its pants once again, allowing the Celts to escape with a 100-94 win in overtime.

Kevin Garnett led Boston with a game-high 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 14 assists and three steals while Paul Pierce had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Jason Terry finally looked like himself with 16 points off the bench and Brandon Bass added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Rookie Bradley Beal, Kevin Seraphin and Martell Webster each scored 16 points for Washington. Former UConn point guard A.J. Price had 15 points and seven assists while Chris Singelton added 14 points off the bench.

All we can hope is that once Boston starts playing some better teams, they will increase their performance level since right now through four games they've looked terrible.

Washington hit six more 3-pointers than Boston (10-4) but the Celtics prevailed because of the fact that they made 22 more free throws (28-6). The Celtics led 11-2 right away but only 21-16 after one quarter. Washington jumped ahead 42-37 at halftime. The C's got back in control with a good third quarter (29-16) yet they couldn't seal it (just like on Saturday).

The worst part is that with their last shot at the buzzer, they elected for a 3-pointer from Rondo when the score was tied at 88. You can never convince me that was the best look they could find. Bass scored five straight points in overtime, including an excellent dunk off a steal and pass by Rondo.

In a rematch of last spring's Eastern Conference semifinals (that went 7 games), the 76ers (2-2) visit Boston on Friday (7:30 p.m., CSN). They traded away Andre Iguodala to Denver and Lou Williams signed in Atlanta so Philadelphia will look much different. They have Andrew Bynum now but he has yet to play this season as he deals with his myriad injuries.

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Celtics Survive 89-86 Against The Wizards In DC

Rest assured that tonight's utterly forgettable game in DC won't be on Boston's highlight reel at the end of the season. Still, it served its purpose as the Celtics (1-2, 1-1 road) were able to pick up their first win of the 2012-13 campaign (get it?), 89-86 against the Wizards (0-2, 0-1 home) at the Verizon Center.

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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Who Needs Ray Allen When You've Got Avery Bradley?

You have to love the Washington Wizards. The Boston Celtics came off a grueling road trip (4-4), missing both Ray Allen (ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (head) so they had plenty of excuses to struggle tonight back at home.

Yet the Celts (26-22, 17-8 home) were able to notch a pretty easy 88-76 win vs. the Wizards (11-37, 5-19 away) at TD Garden (their first game there in over two weeks).

It gave Boston a season sweep (4-0) against Washington and it was mostly thanks to Avery Bradley's career-high 23 points. He started in Allen's place (probably the first time in years that he's been a shooting guard) and he played great. I've been a Bradley critic from Day 1 but I can admit that he is getting better. He'll always have a role based on his outstanding defensive prowess but his offensive game is slowly coming along too.

Paul Pierce added 21 points and eight rebounds, Brandon Bass had 11 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Garnett scored 10 points and had six assists while Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists. Greg Stiemsma had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Jordan Crawford led the Wizards with 20 points. Kevin Seraphin had 15 points and 11 rebounds, John Wall had 12 points and nine assists while Chris Singleton scored 11. Jan Vesely had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Washington is a complete joke and as such, I can't waste anymore of my life right now bothering to write about them. Luckily for the C's, they face a similarly pathetic franchise tomorrow night: the Bobcats, in Charlotte. Boston beat Charlotte 94-84 on February 7 at the Garden. The only reason anyone remembers that game is because it's the one that Pierce became the second leading scorer in Celtics franchise history.

Yes it's a back-to-back and Allen is out again but the C's will be looking for the fourth win in their last five games against the NBA's worst team (7-39). Don't worry, if you miss tomorrow night, they play the Bobcats again on April 15.

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