Recap of the game: Wizards 129, Celtics 133

Recap: Celtics defeat Wizards 133-129.
And The Crunch Numbers: Statistics, Interpretation, and Remarks.

Washington Wizards’ wing In the team’s defeat against the Boston Celtics, Corey Kispert played one of his best performances ever. NBAE/Brian Babineau photo via Getty Images.
The Boston Celtics struggled to play well, while the Washington Wizards did, making their 133-129 loss to them closer than anticipated.

After racing to 18 transition points in the opening quarter of play, the Wizards managed to keep things intriguing in the first half. They led 36–18 at the end of the game in transition.

Jordan Poole had a strong start to the game, scoring 11 points and dishing out 4 assists in the first quarter. From then on, his output collapsed. He scored 19 points in the first half and 19 more in the entire game.

Boston’s lackluster defense and the Celtics’ ineffective three-point shooting benefited Washington in the first half.

The game changed in the third quarter when Boston used a more determined strategy to regain defensive position and get the ball to Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum, who scored baskets. Tatum had 13 points and 3 assists at the end of the quarter. In the quarter, Porzingis scored 14 points against his old team.

In the third quarter, the Wizards’ offense completely collapsed, shooting 7-22 from the field and committing 6 turnovers. Corey Kispert was responsible for four of Washington’s seven made field goals in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Boston increased their advantage to 15 points three times, most recently with 3:24 left. As the Celtics battled with errors, missed shots, and missed free throws, Tyus Jones, Kyle Kuzma, and Bilal Coulibaly scored four straight three-pointers to give Washington a commanding lead.

Boston extended their lead to 15 points three times in the fourth quarter, the last time occurring with 3:24 remaining. Washington took a dominating lead thanks to four consecutive three-pointers from Tyus Jones, Kyle Kuzma, and Bilal Coulibaly as the Celtics struggled with turnovers, missed baskets, and missed free throws.

The Wizards enjoyed several advantages even though they were defeated by a superior team. Among the most notable of these was one of Kispert’s best career all-around performances. In just 24 minutes, he finished with 24 points on 14 shots. Better yet: 6 steals, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. He made threes and used his strength to assault closeouts.

Overall, Deni Avdija had a strong performance: he scored 24 points on just 10 field goals, frequently attacked the paint to get to the free throw line, and accelerated throughout transitions. He had two steals, four assists, and three deep shots (3-5).

In terms of points(21), field goal attempts(18), three-point attempts(12), and usage(27.9%), Coulibaly set career highs. By no means was it a fantastic game.

Figures & Measures
A few performance indicators, such as the Player Production Average (PPA) Game Score, are included below. My overall production statistic, known as PPA, gives players credit for their playmaking, scoring, rebounding, and defense while penalizing them for their poor play (missed shoots, turnovers, poor defense, and fouls).

Individual productivity is converted to points on the scoreboard using the Game Score (GmSC) system. The scale, which represents each player’s overall contributions to the game, is the same as points. Zero is the lowest GmSC that can exist.