Celtics and Warriors Win Physical Basketball Games

The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards are in second and third place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference in terms of playoff seeding, and both are still within striking distance of the first place Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston and Washington played each other in Boston on March 20th; it was the fourth time the two have met this season, and the rivalry has intensified as the season has progressed.

This one pretty much went the Celtics way, as Isaiah Thomas returned from a two game absence and scored 25 points on the way to a 110-102 Celtics victory. There was some pushing and shoving (Boston’s Terry Rozier and Washington’s Brandon Jennings were each assessed technical fouls for a shoving incident) but otherwise the teams stayed in an intense , but controlled, mode. The win pulled Boston (45-26) to within two games of the Cavaliers, while Washington (42-28) is 4 ½ games back. Toronto is just a game behind the Wizards. It was the final regular season matchup between Washington and Boston ; the teams split the four games.

Speaking of intense, physical games, the games between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder have been that way this season since Kevin Durant left OKC for Golden State last summer. The two met for the fourth and final time of the regular season on March 20th, and even without the injured Durant, things were heated in Oklahoma City. Each team had two technical fouls and Golden State’s Matt Barnes was called for a flagrant foul, but like the other three games in this series, the Warriors won by a big margin. 122-96. Klay Thompson led Golden State with 34 points. With Durant gone, Oklahoma City has become heavily dependent on Russell Westbrook; Westbrook had an off night hitting just four of 16 shots and scoring 15 points. The win gave Golden Start a 2 1.2 game lead over idle San Antonio in the Western Conference.