WASHINGTON (AP) – Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes, and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 122-102 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 points in the Celtics’ first road game of the season.
Derrick White had 19 and Payton Pritchard added 15 as the defending NBA champions extended their winning streak against Washington to five games.
Jordan Poole scored 20 of his 26 points before half-time in the rebuilding Wizards’ season opener, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in his Washington debut.
After taking their first double-digit lead just before half-time, the Celtics outscored the Wizards 34-19 in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
Boston closed the first half on a 10-1 run to build its largest lead to that point. Tatum hit a pair of three-pointers, one from each wing, then fed Brown on the second of back-to-back running layups to stake Boston to a 64-54 advantage.
Washington’s starting line-up had an average age of 22.72 years old. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that is the youngest in the NBA so far this season, and the franchise’s youngest since the league began tracking starters in 1970.
