Wizards at Celtics
The Washington Wizards are above .500 for the first time this season and strive to remain there when they visit the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Standout point guard John Wall drained the tiebreaking jumper with five seconds left on Tuesday to give Washington a 101-99 home victory over Chicago.
Wall recorded 26 points and 14 assists for his 10th double-double in 14 games as the Wizards won their third consecutive contest to move above .500 for the first time since Nov. 24, 2015. Wall has fueled the team's recent strong play and is averaging 12.3 assists over his last eight games, with the Wizards compiling a 6-2 record during the stretch. Boston, which resides in third place in the Eastern Conference, had its four-game winning streak halted as it dropped a 114-106 decision to second-place Toronto on Tuesday. The Celtics owned a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter before collapsing as the Raptors concluded the game on a decisive 23-6 run.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (19-18): Moving above the break-even point was a big deal for Washington, which got off to a dreadful 7-13 start under new coach Scott Brooks before winning 12 of its last 17 games. "It was a real big win to be over .500," forward Markieff Morris, acquired from Phoenix last February, told reporters. "We haven't been over .500 since I got here actually, so it just feels good." Shooting guard Bradley Beal scored 19 points to end a streak of four consecutive 20-point efforts and is averaging 23.8 during that span.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (23-15): Boston hasn't beaten a team with a better record yet this season as it came up empty in an attempt against the Raptors. Coach Brad Stevens repeatedly cautions against the Celtics feeling like they have arrived, and the squad got another reminder with poor finishes to both the third and fourth quarters. "My biggest thing is, we have to get a lot better," Stevens said afterward. "I've said that before we met for this game and I probably saw more encouraging signs of progress than I saw negative. But at the end of the day, they had their way in the last six minutes of each of the last two quarters."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SF Otto Porter Jr. scored a career-high 34 points and collected 14 rebounds as the Wizards routed the Celtics 118-93 on Nov. 9.
2. Boston SG Avery Bradley (Achilles) could return after a two-game absence while C Tyler Zeller (sinus infection) is expected to sit out his sixth straight contest.
3. Washington C Marcin Gortat has posted eight consecutive double-digit rebounding efforts and is averaging 13.1 boards during the stretch.