Celtics rally in second half, dispatch Wizards in NBA Cup play

After trailing by as many as 11 points, the Celtics eventually wore down Washington in the second half and secured a 108-96 win that will not be featured on highlight reels anytime soon. The Celtics improved to 2-1 in NBA Cup group play, keeping alive their chances of reaching the quarterfinals.

There’s a chance that Boston will need a strong overall point differential to win a tiebreaker, and this was not lost on coach Joe Mazzulla, who called a timeout with 5.9 seconds left with his team leading by 10. The Wizards committed a foul soon after, and Boston added two otherwise meaningless points to its total.

Jaylen Brown had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Celtics. Jayson Tatum finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, but struggled through one of the worst long-range shooting nights of his career — going 6 for 19 overall and 0 for 10 from the 3-point line.

Boston was 11 for 46 from beyond the arc as a team, but the Wizards were just 7 for 28 and committed 20 turnovers.

When these teams met here on the Wizards’ opening night, the atmosphere could best be described as sleepy. But that at least had some first-game intrigue. The first half Friday didn’t even have that, and the Celtics were unable to create their own energy at the start.

Jrue Holiday sent one fast-break outlet pass soaring out of bounds. Tatum air-balled a 3-pointer, had an inbounds pass intercepted, and was stripped on a drive. Everything looked clunky.

After the Celtics fell behind, 18-11, the bench provided a jolt, with Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard combining to go 4 for 4 from the field and 3 for 3 from the 3-point line over the final five minutes of the period, helping Boston inch ahead, 29-27.

But Washington quickly regained control with Tatum on the bench to start the second quarter, with former Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon leading the surge. Over the first three minutes of the second quarter he converted to a putback, hit a 3-pointer, and slid into a left-handed layup.

A Kyle Kuzma 15-footer at the 6:53 mark gave Washington its largest lead at 45-34. But there is no escaping the fact that these are still the Wizards, and sometimes they will look the part.

The hosts were held scoreless for an awkward five minutes, with the Celtics happily allowing rookie big man Alex Sarr to fire away from the 3-point line. Luke Kornet, who came off the bench for Neemias Queta, served as a strong deterrent in the paint during this stretch.

A basket inside by Brown with 2:38 left capped a 13-0 Celtics run and gave them a 47-45 lead. But the Wizards regained a bit of momentum over the final 35 seconds. After Tatum missed a 3-pointer, Corey Kispert leaked out for a layup with 29.6 seconds left, setting up an unlikely two-for-one opportunity.

Then the Wizards capitalized with another stop that was followed by two Kuzma free throws with 0.5 seconds left, sending them to halftime with a 51-49 lead despite committing 11 turnovers.

Tatum air-balled another 3-pointer early in the third quarter, continuing a brutal stretch for the team’s top three scorers. Through three quarters, Tatum, Brown, and White were a combined 3 for 26 from beyond the arc.

The Wizards took a 66-63 lead on a Kuzma 3-pointer with 4:48 left, and moments later Mazzulla was whistled for a technical foul for voicing his displeasure about the lack of a foul call on a Brown drive the previous play.

He stomped onto the floor and had to be restrained by his assistants. It’s unclear if the sequence sparked the Celtics, but they did close the quarter with a 12-6 burst.

Both teams made enough mistakes early in the fourth to give the other a chance, but neither really capitalized. The Celtics inched out to an 89-82 lead on a Tatum fadeaway with 7:15 left. But then they scored just two points over the next three minutes, allowing Washington to linger.

Brown ensured that the night would not turn into a disaster, draining a pair of tough turnaround jumpers in the final two minutes, the second giving the Celtics a 99-92 lead with 46.4 seconds left.

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Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @adamhimmelsbach.