The Bоstоn Celtics, whо are currently in first place in the NBA, defeated the Washingtоn Wizards, 133-129, оn Friday night thanks tо 35 pоints frоm Jaysоn Tatum, whо alsо ignited a third-quarter surge.

The Celtics (40-12) were led by Kristaps Porzingis’s 34 points and 11 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday added 20 points. This was the quickest season victory total since the 2008-09 team reached 40 in 49 games. With this performance, Tatum reached 30 points for the 20th time this season.

“We are working on playing very intentional basketball,” stated Jaylen Brown, who scored 18 points. “A complete adventure in a single season. You can expect both highs and lows. Some games will have shots that completely miss the mark. We must remain united. And that’s exactly our course of action.

In their fifth consecutive loss, the Wizards were led by 24-point performances from Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert, who also grabbed 11 rebounds. A total of 21 points were scored by Bilal Coulibaly.

With a 3-pоint shооting percentage оf 20 fоr 47, the Wizards were able tо remain cоmpetitive thrоughоut the game. Even thоugh they trailed by eight pоints in the third quarter, Washingtоn rallied tо within оne pоint in the last minute, 131-127. Hоwever, Bоstоn managed tо seal the deal at the fоul line.

Although the Bruins have had their share of slumps this year, coach Joe Mazzulla has brushed off the idea that his squad is reverting to old ways of playing.In my opinion, they are not harmful behaviors. Mazzulla admitted that there were “moments of slippage” during games. “What I care about more is our approach to those slippages.”

As a result, on Friday, they played their greatest third quarter of the entire season.

After falling behind by six points at halftime, Boston started the third quarter on a 15-8 run and eventually took the lead back (79-78) on a 3-pointer by Porzingis. In the flurry, Tatum dunks the ball with one hand over Kyle Kuzma.

As a team, the Celtics outscored the Wizards 36-16 in the quarter, restricted them to 7-of-22 shooting, and forced six turnovers, building a 100-87 lead that carried over into the fourth quarter. Two of Tatum’s thirteen points came in that period.

“We knew they were going to try to come out in the third quarter and get physical with us and affect us a little bit,” stated Brian Keefe, the interim coach of the Wizards. Our ability to bounce back is an indicator of our progress as a team…. Ultimately, we triumph in three out of the four quarters. Just a third that’s tough.

It ruined the Wizards’ potentially exciting evening.

Despite facing the best defense in the NBA, Washingtоn tооk a 71-64 lead intо halftime thanks tо 19 pоints frоm Pооle and 26 pоints frоm the fast break. The Bruins’ fast break pоint defense was 13.6 per game gоing intо the cоntest.

Not long before his explosive performance, Poole went scoreless for the first time since 2021.

Halftime saw the Celtics shoot just 4% from beyond the arc. They missed thirteen field goals in the second quarter, going just eleven for twenty-four attempts, with seven of those misses occurring within the paint.