Sam Hauser couldn’t have been more impressed with the way he and his Boston Celtics teammates dominated the glass during Sunday night’s showdown with the Washington Wizards.
Sure, the 17-win Wizards aren’t exactly a force to be reckoned with this season as the league’s second-worst team. But any time you can out-rebound a team by 30 — Boston pulled down 62 boards as compared to Washington’s 32 — it’s an impressive feat.
“The board work was really good tonight,” Hauser told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after his team’s 124-90 victory. “It reminded me of a good charcuterie board back home in Wisconsin with everything you need: cheese, crackers, grapes, fig dip, a little bit of honey. It was good.”
Boston’s dominance on the glass set the tone in what was an impressive victory for the home team with just four games left to play in the regular season. The win was the Celtics’ second in a row, and eighth straight against the Wizards.
Better yet, the Celtics saw seven players finish in double figures in the scoring column despite two starters sitting the contest out. Six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum missed the game while resting an ankle he turned in last month’s win over the Sacramento Kings, while center Kristaps Porzingis sat out with a non-COVID-related illness.
Leading the way for Boston was NBA Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Payton Pritchard, who scored a game-high 20 points — including four three-pointers — despite coming off the bench. Derrick White added 19 points behind a team-high five three-pointers, followed by Hauser (18 points, eight rebounds), Jaylen Brown (15 points, five assists), Jrue Holiday (13 points, seven rebounds, five assists), Luke Kornet (13 points, 14 rebounds), and Al Horford (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Kornet’s 14 rebounds — of which nine came on the offensive end — were two shy of the career-high 16 boards he pulled down in a game against the San Antonio Spurs last month. Even so, his teammates were quick to celebrate the progress the eight-year veteran has made in his second year with the team.
“He’s unbelievable. Just seems to always be in the right place,” White said of Kornet. “He just kind of makes the game easier for everybody. If there is a miss, you always know big Luke is down there, most likely going to get a hand on it or something’s going to happen. He’s been unbelievable for us all year.”
Sunday night’s game also marked the second time former Celtics guard Marcus Smart has returned to Boston’s TD Garden since being traded in 2023. Smart, who was drafted by the Celtics in 2014 and spent nine years in Boston, played parts of two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies before being sent to Washington ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Smart was active for Sunday’s game against the Celtics, but did not play.
“He’s been terrific,” Wizard coach Brian Keefe said of the addition of Smart. “Obviously, thrilled to have him on our team, as you guys know here in this town. What he meant to the city of Boston. Tremendous leader, tremendous player, just the knowledge that he has in the game, the amount of experience he’s built to pass on to our guys. He’s been terrific.”
The Celtics (58-20) will now hit the road for their final road-trip of the season with games against the New York Kicks (50-28) on Tuesday and the Orlando Magic (38-40) on Wednesday. Boston’s 32 road wins this season are the most in franchise history, and trail only the 1995-95 Chicago Bulls (33) and the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (34) for the most all-time.
Boston remains four games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers (62-16) for first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
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