Recap: Wizards lose to Celtics, 112-94

The Wizards never led in this game.

If you were hoping that the Washington Wizards would go on a 10-3 start like they did last season, I think we can all agree that that start isn’t happening. They lost 112-94 to the Boston Celtics on Sunday night and never led.

Washington stumbled at the start, shooting just 26.1 percent from the field in the first quarter. The Celtics shot 52 percent with plays like this.

Or this.

The second quarter wasn’t much better when the Wizards gave up plays like this.

Or this.

And just when it seemed like the Wizards may get this game … somewhat under control, the Celtics answer with a buzzer beater.

In short, the Wizards let Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum go off for a combined 39 points in the first half. No one besides Kristaps Porzingis and Rui Hachimura looked competent out there.

While the Wizards held the Celtics to 36.4 percent shooting in the third quarter, they only shot 32 percent themselves and just 1-of-10 from the three point line. As you might expect, the Celtics won that quarter 29-21.

There isn’t much to add with the fourth quarter. At least Johnny Davis had some extended playing time.

For Washington, Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Bradley Beal added 12 points, but shot just 4-of-16 from the field. Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Boston and Tatum added 23 points.

The one stat that truly separated the teams today was three point efficiency. The Wizards shot 7-of-32 from deep (21.9 percent) while the Celtics were 21-of-47 (44.7 percent) from three.

The Wizards will host the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night. Gametime is at 7 p.m. ET.