Celtics vs. Wizards: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

The Washington Wizards sent a message before Tuesday's game against the Boston Celtics and backed it up with their play in a 123-108 victory at the Verizon Center. 

Washington arrived to the contest dressed in all black and followed the lead of its two talented guards for the straightforward win. Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 31 points and scored a number of critical baskets down the stretch, while John Wall stuffed the stat sheet with 27 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals. 

The Wizards shot a blistering 57.8 percent from the field and moved to 6-1 in their last seven games. Washington is now 25-20 and 19-6 at home, while Boston dropped to 26-18 after its third consecutive loss.

Isaiah Thomas led the way for the Celtics with 25 points and 13 assists, while Al Horford added 22 points and Jae Crowder chipped in 17 points and six rebounds.

While Washington beat a team ahead of it in the Eastern Conference standings, the real headlines came before the contest. Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com noted the Wizards wore all black to the game to strike a tone, with Wall saying: "All black everything. A funeral."

According to Forsberg, the tension between the two sides "dates back to last season, when Crowder accused former Wizards coach Randy Wittman of cursing at him."

It continued this season when Wall was ejected for a flagrant foul on Marcus Smart in the first meeting. That set the stage for the aftermath of the second meeting, which Forsberg described: "Wall exchanged words with Crowder after the buzzer of Boston's 117-108 triumph. Crowder poked Wall in the nose, and Wall responded by trying to slap Crowder before the two were separated."

Before Tuesday's game, Thomas said, "That's cute that they're wearing all black," per Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic.

Hughes shared a look at some of the players arriving for the game:

The wardrobe decision likely would have backfired on the Wizards had they lost, but they wasted little time setting the tone once the game started. They jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the opening minutes, and Jay King of MassLive.com said "maybe the funeral was for the Celtics defense" after the Wizards made their first five shots from the field.

The two sides settled into more of a back-and-forth from there, but Washington closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 33-24 lead after a Wall fadeaway at the buzzer.

Boston was fortunate to be down just nine considering it shot 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from three-point range in the first quarter.

The Celtics gradually chipped away at Washington's lead in the second quarter. They used a 14-6 run to pull within 49-45 after a Jaylen Brown three-pointer, which started a spurt where the teams traded four consecutive threes before Thomas and Kelly Olynyk went inside to cut the Washington lead to three.

The teams swapped mini spurts from there with Washington moving ahead 62-54 on a Wall three and Boston climbing within 62-59 on a Marcus Smart three. The Wizards scored the final four points of the half and took a 66-59 advantage into the intermission.

The Wizards extended their lead to double digits again in the third when Wall spun his way through Boston's defense for the layup:

Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer weighed in on Wall's ability after the impressive play:

Wall then used that quickness to steal a pass and burst into the open floor, where he threw down a dunk and extended Washington's lead to 80-69. Wall wasn't the only Wizard to assault the rim, as the Wizards shared:

Despite Wall showing off his burst, neither team established much momentum throughout the third quarter as Washington's lead vacillated between single and double digits. Thomas brought it back within single digits with a head-turning shot from nearly behind the backboard:

Boston pulled within six at 84-78, but Wall's and-1 spearheaded a quick 7-2 run to give the Wizards the 91-80 advantage going into the fourth.

The pattern of Washington answering every Celtics run continued in the fourth, as a Kelly Oubre Jr. three made it 101-89 after Boston had cut the lead to seven on multiple occasions. Whenever the Celtics established a hint of momentum, the Wizards would answer with a three or layup.

Boston made another push to pull within 105-97, but Beal scored from mid-range and then attacked the basket and converted an and-1 to make it 110-97 with less than four minutes remaining. J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic noticed a pattern during Tuesday's game:

The Celtics never truly threatened from there, and Beal continued his takeover with a steal and basket to essentially put Boston away.

Postgame Reaction

Wizards coach Scott Brooks said, "The hype around the game was probably bigger than normal but it wasn't in the locker room," per Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

Hughes wrote "Markieff Morris joked that the Wizards should wear all white to their next game after how well the all-black effort went."

Crowder commented on the Washington offense, per the Celtics: "They were very comfortable and did whatever they want at the offensive end." 

Forsberg noted Smart waived a towel and screamed at assistant coaches in the fourth quarter before he was sent to the locker room. Stevens addressed the incident and said, per Forsberg, "[Smart] just wanted to go back in. And he had played 12 minutes or whatever. So he wasn't going to go back in. He wanted to go back in. He wanted to go back in badly."

"Just coaches and players, they're real passionate about the game and hate losing and having different opinions about certain things in the game," Smart said, per Forsberg. "Of course, I wanted to go back in. Just like everybody else to play it out and give it everything they had and leave it on the court. We had different opinions on that."

What's Next?

Next up for the Celtics is a two-game homestand against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday and Orlando Magic on Friday. Despite Tuesday's loss, Boston has a chance to build some momentum at home as it battles for playoff positioning in the East.

The Wizards, meanwhile, are headed for a two-game road trip against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. Washington will look to continue its recent hot streak as it too pushes for seeding behind the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East.