Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Andray Blatche poured in 31 points and came down with 11 rebounds and the Wizards snapped a six-game skid against Boston with a 106-96 triumph at TD Garden.
Celtics Struggles At Home Continue After 106-96 Loss To Lowly Wiz
Nick Young scored 19 and JaVale McGee added 14 points and 11 boards for the Wizards, who won for the fourth time in six contests since a 16-game losing streak.
The loss left Boston a game behind Atlanta for third place in the Eastern Conference with just three games left for each team. The Hawks beat Toronto, 107-101, on Friday. Atlanta also holds the tiebreaker over Boston by virtue of sweeping the season series.
The Celtics were a woeful 12-of-40 from the field in the first half and fell behind 52-31 at the break. They never recovered even though a pair of Nate Robinson three-pointers late made it a six-point game.
Rajon Rondo ended with 17 points and 12 assists, while Robinson scored 13 for Boston, which lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Young had 11 points in the first quarter, a period which the Wizards finished on a 15-2 burst. Young culminated the push with a three-pointer for a 30-17 cushion.
It only got worse for the Celtics in the second, as Blatche scored seven straight points for a 47-19 spread with 4:33 remaining in the half.
Boston trailed by a hefty amount the entire third quarter and went to the fourth staring at a 75-54 deficit. With under a minute left, Robinson made a three-pointer, then stole the ball from Livingston before banking in another shot from beyond the arc, this one with 50.4 seconds remaining for a 97-91 difference.
Young countered by making two free throws and Washington held on from there.
Boston has road games against Milwaukee and Chicago before finishing at home against the Bucks...Kendrick Perkins, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace each had 10 points for the Celtics...Boston's starting forward tandem of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined to shoot 7-of-24 and had 17 points between them...Boston has lost four of its last five home games.
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