Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
It was clear prior to the start of this game that there was some bad blood brewing between the Wizards and the Celtics and tonight, it just brewed over with the ejection of Kelly Oubre Jr. after he laid out Kelly Olynyk after a hard screen. Oubre is questionable for Game 4 as the league will look at his actions after tonight and determine his status for Game 5 on Sunday.
Players from both teams commented on the situation after the game.
“I guess that’s playoff basketball,” said Isaiah Thomas, who was held to 13 points after scoring 53 in Game 2. “We don’t like them and they don’t like us.”
Thomas was held in check during this game and had to miss sometime in the second half due to a tooth issue he suffered in Game 1.
“[My teeth] came out. I had to get them back in,” Thomas said when asked about missing the start of the second half. Marcus Smart started the third quarter in his place, but Thomas returned just 1 minute, 40 seconds into the second half.
“They’re temporary, so if they get hit, they might crack, they might come out,” Thomas said. “I can’t get any permanent teeth in until the season is over. It is what it is.”
Washington played a solid defensive game tonight, something they have been criticized for the entire game. Forcing 10 turnovers in the first half, the Wizards were able to build on a 20 point lead and expand it to 30.
John Wall led the way with 24 points for the Wizards, but they also had help from Otto Porter and Bojan Bogdanovic with 19 points each.
After the game Wizards Coach Scott Brooks made it apparent that he did not want his team playing with all of the pent-up aggression in Game 4 that could hurt his team later in the series.
“We can’t respond that way,” Brooks said. “When you keep getting hit in the head, you might respond that way and I think that’s what he did. I’m not saying that that was the right thing to do. We have to focus on playing basketball.”
