Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 69 points as the Celtics improved to 3-0 with a 126-107 win over the Wizards.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 69 points, the Celtics’ lockdown defense limited the Wizards to 75 points in three quarters, and the starters earned the final frame off Monday night.
Boston’s 126-107 win in the nation’s capital went as well as they could’ve hoped. And while it was worth monitoring the visitors’ focus and effort after they often played down to .500 and worse competition last season, the Celtics started fast, building a 42-19 lead entering the second quarter, and maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the matchup.
J. Brown scored 16 points in the first quarter and 27 points in the first half. The Celtics led by 31 points in the second quarter and led 77-51 at the end of the first half. After changing the basket, Tatum performed well in the third quarter, scoring 17 points in a single quarter, helping the Celtics take a lead of up to 37 points, and the game was a foregone conclusion early.
Tatum scored 17 points in the third quarter. By then, Brown had nearly reached his total for the night.
“He came out aggressive tonight, getting into his spots,” Tatum said. “When you start feeling good about yourself, you get into a rhythm, those tough shots are still tough, but they become a little bit easier.”
Unseld tried everything he could to stop Boston’s onslaught, calling five timeouts in the first 30 minutes.
Wizards center Daniel Gafford missed the game with a sprained left ankle, and rookie Bilal Coulibaly, a first-round draft choice, started for the first time. He had nine points.
“You want to give them credit,” Unseld said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons. That starting unit that we put out tonight hadn’t played one minute in preseason in totality.”
