Celtics at Wizards
After coasting to a physical road win, Washington returns to the nation's capital looking to snap a two-game home slide when it hosts Boston on Saturday. In a game that featured an altercation involving star point guard John Wall, the Wizards cruised past New York 102-91 in a Christmas Day matinee at Madison Square Garden. Wall was unbothered by the incident, finishing off an impressive 24-point, 11-assist performance that further cemented him as an early MVP candidate.
"I'm just a feisty guy that likes to compete," Wall told reporters. "And I want to win games." The Wizards have been doing that all season, but they did drop both ends of a recent homestand against Phoenix and Chicago. The best 3-point shooting team in the league (39 percent), Washington made just 8-of-23 attempts in the back-to-back defeats. The Celtics were one better than that with a 9-for-24 showing but slumped late in a 109-107 loss to Brooklyn on Friday, their third straight setback.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (10-17): Head coach Brad Stevens has talked about how he needs to shuffle his rotation off-and-on to determine the best pairings in the wake of the Rajon Rondo trade last week, and Friday's contest offered another glimpse into that task. Rookie Marcus Smart was re-inserted into the starting lineup and forward Jared Sullinger - who was benched in the second half of a loss at Orlando on Tuesday - was given 32 minutes. Meanwhile, newcomer Brandan Wright played just six minutes and fellow forward Brandon Bass appeared for only four, his lowest total since March 28, 2010.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (20-8): The win over the Knicks coincided with the return of Nene to the starting lineup after a 15-game stretch in which he was either hurt or coming off the bench. He had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting while Kris Humphries - who was bumped from the starting spot - added 14 on a 7-of-9 performance in his return to a more familiar role. Washington is 10-2 with Nene in the starting lineup after going 10-5 with Humphries in that role.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split a home-and-home set earlier this month, with Washington claiming the back half with a 133-132 win in double-overtime.
2. Wall leads all NBA players with nine games of at least 20 points and 10 assists.
3. Smart had a career-high 23 points in the double-OT loss at Washington on
Dec. 8, but has averaged just 3.2 points on 6-of-18 shooting in six
games since.