Celtics run away from undermanned Wizards for 16th win in 18 games

BOSTON (AP) — Luke Kornet scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds, Al Horford had 11 points with 10 boards and the Boston Celtics ran away from the undermanned Washington Wizards to win 124-90 on Sunday night.

Derrick White added 19 points for Boston, making five of the team's 24 3-pointers. The Celtics had a season-high 62 rebounds.

Justin Champagnie scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and Alex Sarr scored 16 for the Wizards.

Boston scored the game’s first eight points. The defending NBA champions led by 16 after one quarter, 21 after two and took a 100-64 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

Of the Boston starters, only Kornet – who was only in the opening lineup because Kristaps Porzingis rested – saw the floor in the fourth quarter.

Takeaways

Wizards: Washington, which is competing for the worst record in the NBA and the top spot in the draft lottery, listed six players as inactive and rested four others, including Malcolm Brogdon and Marcus Smart.

Celtics: With a 32-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, Boston's bench got extended time. In all, the Celtics' reserves scored 53 points, led by Payton Pritchard’s 20.

Key moment

Former Celtics guard Marcus Smart received a loud ovation when he was shown on the scoreboard during warmups. Although he did not play in the game, he got in a shouting match with a fan behind the Wizards bench in the fourth quarter; the fan was removed by security.

Key stat

Sam Hauser made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that was the NBA’s 31,580th of the season. That surpassed the record set last season. The Celtics’ fifth 3-point attempt of the game was their NBA-record 3,722nd, one more than Houston in 2018-19.

Up next

The Wizards are at Indiana on Tuesday. Boston visits the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

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