After blowing big leads in Games 1 and 2, the Washington Wizards were hoping to turn their fortunes around on Thursday night. They hosted the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup in a fully packed Verizon Center in Washington. It was a sell-out crowd of more than 20,000 fans hoping to see the Wizards cut their series deficit to 2-1. Ian Mahinmi was back in the lineup for Washington after missing the past nine games with a left calf strain. Entering Thursday's game the Celtics won four straight road games.
Washington wins in blowout fashion
Early in the first quarter both teams were pretty deadlocked with the scored tiet at 12-12. Over the next 5:17, the Wizards went on a 22-0 run to create separation and pull away early in this game. The score was 39-17 for the home team after the first period of the game. Otto Porter Jr. and Bojan Bogdanovic scored nine points each in the period.
Boston had six turnovers in the opening quarter. Midway through the second quarter Washington held a 26-point lead (53-27) and at halftime it was 63-40 for the Wizards. Boston was outscored in the third quarter as well (32-29) as they trailed by as much as 30 points (86-56) in the period. Heading into the final quarter Washington had a 95-69 lead.
John Wall scored 12 points while Marcin Gortat scored seven and pulled down seven rebounds for Washington in the third quarter. Both teams traded baskets in the final 12 minutes of the game and the Wizards ended up winning it in blowout fashion. The final score was 116-89 for Scott Brooks' squad. They outrebounded the Celtics 50-38 and held them to just 35% shooting from the field.
Washington finished with 26 assists and just nine turnovers while forcing Boston into 16 turnovers. The Celtics were outscored 56-28 in the paint.
Great team effort by the Wizards
All five Washington starters finished in double-digit scoring in Game 3. John Wall led all scorers with 24 points and eight assists. He was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Wall became the first NBA player to post at least 20 points and seven assists in 10 straight postseason games. Otto Porter Jr. scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds while Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
After scoring 53 points in an historic Game 2, Isaiah Thomas was held to just 13 points for the Celtics in Game 3. He was 3-for-8 eight from the field and had two turnovers. Al Horford was the leading scorer for Boston with 16 points.
Boston now leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday at the Verizon Center.
