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Washington Wizards (1-6) at Boston Celtics (3-5)
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #9 Home Game #5
TV: NBCSB, MNMT2, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 106.7 The Fan, Sirius XM
TD Garden
Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Derrick White vs CJ McCollum
Shooting Guard
vs
Payton Pritchard vs Bilal Coulibaly
Small Forward 
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Justin Champagnie
Power Forward 
vs
Josh Minott vs Kyshawn George
Center 
vs
Neemias Queta vs Alex Sarr
Celtics ReservesAnfernee Simons
Hugo Gonzalez
Xavier Tillman
Jordan Walsh
Sam Hauser
Luka Garza
Baylon Scheierman
Chris Boucher
2-Way PlayersRon Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
Amari Williams
Injuries/OutJayson Tatum (Achilles) out
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Wizards Reserves Marvin Bagley III
Malaki Branham
Bub Carrington
Anthony Gill
AJ Johnson
Tre Johnson
Corey Kispert
Will Riley
Cam Whitmore
Two Way Players Sharife Cooper
Tristan Vukcevic
Jamir Watkins
Injuries/Out Khris Middleton (elbow) Day to Day
Head Coach Brian Keefe
Game Notes The Celtics host the Washington Wizards for the first of 3 meetings between these two teams this season. They will meet again in Washington on December 4 and they will play the 3rd and final game in Boston on March 14. The Celtics won the series 4-0 last season winning at home and on the road. The Celtics are 206-120 overall against the Wizards all time. They are 108-44 all time in games played in Boston. The Celtics have won the last 8 games against the Wizards.
The Wizards made a few significant changes in the off season. They traded Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and Micah Peavy for CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and Cam Whitmore. They then traded Kelly Olynyk to San Antonio for Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, who they waived. They also waived Malcolm Brogdon, Richaun Holmes and Marcus Smart.
After this game at home against the Wizards, the Celtics will then go on a 3 game road trip including 2 games at Orlando and one at Philadelphia. One of those games in Orlando will be the second NBA Cup game. Then they have 2 games at home against Memphis and the LA Clippers. Then it is one game on the road at Brooklyn before playing Brooklyn, Orlando, and Detroit at home. The home game against Brooklyn will also be a Cup game.
After this game in Boston, the Wizards will return home to play Cleveland and Dallas. Then it's on the road for games at Detroit and at Houston before one game at home against Brooklyn. Then, it's a 3 game road trip through Minnesota, Toronto and Chicago before one game at home against Atlanta, and one game on the road at Indiana. Then, it's one game at home against Milwaukee then at Philadelphia and back home against Boston and Atlanta.
As of right now, Jayson Tatum is the only player on the Celtics injury list as he rehabs from the Achilles tear he suffered in the playoffs. That doesn't mean that other players won't be added before game time. For Washington, the only player on the injury list is Khris Middleton who is out with an elbow contusion and knee soreness.
I'm guessing that the Celtics will go with the same starting lineup that they have used in the last 5 games that includes Josh Minott. They won 3 of those 5 games, losing the last two games to Houston and Utah. It's also possible that Joe will experiment and start a different lineup. I've listed the starters from the Wizards' game notes, which may also be subject to change.
Key Matchups vs
Josh Minott vs Kyshawn George
George is averaging 17.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steal and 1.3 blocks per game. He is shooting 55.3% from the field and 53.8% from beyond the arc. The Celtics have to stay with him on defense and keep him from shooting over 50% in this game. They also have to box him out on the boards since he is a good rebounder.
vs
Neemias Queta vs Alex Sarr
Sarr was the 2nd overall pick in last year's draft and is playing well for the Wizards. He is averaging 17.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. He is shooting 52.7% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to stay with him on defense and also keep hm off the boards.
Honorable Mention Payton Pritchard vs Bilal Coulibaly
Coulibaly is averaging 13.7 points 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks. He is shooting 42.4% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc. Coulibaly was the 7th pick in the 2023 draft and is playing very well for the Wizards. He has a height advantage over Pritchard and so we will likely see others covering him on defense if he gets hot.
Keys to the GameDefense - Defense is always the key to winning games. The Celtics were second in the preseason with a defensive rating of 100.2. The Celtics have now fallen to 14th with a defensive rating of 113.5. The Wizards are 28th with a defensive rating of 119.2. The Celtics allowed the Jazz to score 69 points in the second half. They will need to play tougher defense in this game to limit the Wizards scoring.
Rebound - Rebounding may be the biggest key to winning right now since the Celtics' 5 losses are largely due to not being able to rebound. The Wizards are 8th with 47.2 rebounds per game while the Celtics are 14th with 43.6 rebounds per game. They simply have to fight harder to grab rebounds than the Wizards. Much of rebounding is effort as evidenced by Payton Pritchard being the shortest guy on the court most nights and averaging over 4 rebounds per game. Every Celtic has got to crash the boards and fight for every rebound. Until they solve their rebounding woes, they will struggle to get wins.
To 3 or Not to 3 - The Celtics shot just 21.6% from 3 against the Jazz. They are 27th in the league, averaging just 32.6% from beyond the arc. It's not just one Celtic who is struggling to hit their 3's, it is almost everyone on the team. They need to work on their spacing and focus on their shooting. If they struggle early in the game, they need to score in the midrange or in the paint and not continue to brick 3's the entire game.
Effort and Energy - In their 3 wins, the Celtics played harder and with more energy than their opponents. That has to be their identity this season. They have to play harder on defense. They have to rebound harder. They have to play with energy and extra effort for every possession. In their 5 losses, they allowed their opponents to be the team that played harder. The Celtics also need to play faster. They are last in the league with a pace of 96.69. The Wizards are 2nd with a pace of 105.08. The Celtics need to pick up the pace and play with more energy and play harder than the Wizards.
X-Factors Home Game - The Celtics are once again at home. They should get a boost from the home crowd and from being in familiar surroundings. The Celtics need to have a sense of urgency at home to protect home court and not expect to win because the Wizards have been tanking. The Wizards will have to deal with travel, staying in a hotel, and a hostile crowd and hopefully that will give the Celtics the advantage.
Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew officiates differently. Some call it tight, others let them play. Some favor the home team. Some favor the road team. Some just make bad, head scratching calls as we have seen many times. The no call against Jaylen Brown in their last game is an example of how officiating can be an x-factor. The Celtics need to adjust to the way the refs call the game and not let bad calls and no calls take them out of the game or affect their focus.
Topic: Wizards (1-6) at Celtics (3-5) Game#9 11/5/25 (Read 140 times)