When the Celtics first went up big by 17 points on the Wizards in the first half, the young squad at least responded. It was just a seven-point C’s lead by halftime as Washington went on a big run to cut it to a manageable deficit.
But the game unraveled for the Wizards after halftime. They were outscored 80-42 in the second half to lose 146-101 to the Celtics. The 45-point difference is the largest margin of victory by an NBA team this season. Wizards coach Brian Keefe, a Winchester native, called out his team after the loss.
“We have a certain expectation of how we want to play,” Keefe told reporters after the game. “I think we have seen this lately that we can play physical, we can defend, we can disrupt people. We can really move the ball and share it when we play with a certain pace. I didn’t see those things out there in the game. You can call that what that is, but it’s just the way we play. And I didn’t see how our identity of how we play basketball, and that’s not unacceptable.”
It’s been another tough season in Washington as it dropped to an East-worst 3-18 after Thursday’s loss. The Wizards have the worst defense in the NBA as evidenced by the Celtics scoring at least 32 points in every quarter Thursday. The Wizards just haven’t been competitive this season as they’re trending toward another lottery pick.
The Wizards have some young pieces, though neither Alex Sarr (No. 2 overall in 2024) and Tre Johnson (No. 6 overall in 2025) played Thursday. The Wizards went 18-64 under Keefe in his first full season at the helm last year. It’s looking like another season where Washington will have to hope the lottery balls fall its way, though the 2026 NBA Draft is considered to be loaded with talent.
In the meantime, the Wizards are just trying to develop good habits despite suffering 14 straight losses earlier this season. As seen Thursday, that takes some effort which wasn’t necessarily there in this blowout.
“It was painfully obvious that we didn’t meet the standard that we want to play at,” Keefe said. “Our competitive juice. I thought we made a little bit of a run there at the end of the second quarter. But the second half was not representative of what we want to be and who we have been lately. We have to own that, and we gotta buckle down and get better and get ready for our next game. But was not up to our standard.”