Washington Wizards Notch Third Straight Win over Boston Celtics

After last night's game between the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan shook Celtics coach Doc Rivers and then pumped his fist into the air. 

Jordan's Wizards never backed down in a 109-95 victory that was supposed to feature mostly the Boston Celtics reserves.  Rivers mentioned before the game that he was only going to play his "Big Three" (Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce) around thirty minutes.  That didn't happen. 

Each of the Celtics stars logged more than thirty minutes in what looked like it was going to turn into a statement game for them.  The Celtics did not want to give this game away, especially to a team that had beaten them twice before. 

Antawn Jamison did what he has been doing all year, playing stingy defense on Kevin Garnett and posting yet another double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds.  Caron Butler chipped in with 13 points and 10 assists.  Gilbert Arenas had thirteen points, although his shooting was off for most of the game.  On the upside of his game, he made some key steals and facilitated some great fast break points.

The rest of the Wizards played brilliantly.  Roger Mason only scored three points in the game, but his lone three was the dagger that seemed to take the wind out of the Celtics for good.  Deshawn Stevenson's late three to push the lead to 12 late in the fourth was just the twist of the knife. 

Brendan Haywood put down a couple monster dunks and ended up with 12 points and six rebounds.  Andray Blatche, Darius Songalia, and Antonio Daniels played consistently, frequently sacrificing their bodies to make plays.  

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce combined for 50 points, but it was just not enough to overcome a surging Wizards offense.  The Wizards ended up shooting 51 percent for the game. With this win, the Wizards became the only team in the NBA to beat the league best Boston Celtics three times for the season, a huge statement should the two meet in the second or third round of the playoffs. 

The Wizard's next two games against the Pistons and Sixers are crucial.  Depending on the outcome of  Friday's game against the Pistons, Saturday's Sixers match up could prove as important as tonight's game between the Nuggets and Warriors. 

The two teams stand at a game apart in the standings.  Both teams are playing great basketball and making a late push. The outcome of that game could mean the difference between playing against Dwight Howard and Orlando, or Lebron James and Cleveland.