Boston Celtics vs Washington Wizards live stream: Watch NBA online
The Washington Wizards (31-23) will host the Boston Celtics (39-16) in a nationally-televised game at the Capital One Arena on Thursday (Friday AEDT). The teams have developed a bitter rivalry since last year's Eastern Conference semi-finals (best-of-seven) series which the Celtics won by a margin of 4-3.
The Wizards, one of the hottest teams in the NBA, had their five-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a 115-102 away loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. In franchise point guard John Wall's absence, the team has fared admirably well, but the team had no answer to Sixers big man Joel Embiid, who finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Wizards guard Bradley Beal, set to play his first NBA All-Star game later this month, finished with 30 points but made a few crucial late turnovers that cost his team dearly on Wednesday AEDT.
The Celtics, meanwhile, suffered a 111-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. In point guard Kyrie Irving's first game back from a quad contusion, the Celtics trailed the Raptors by 29 points at one stage and had no answer to the likes of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors crept within a game of the No. 1 seed, owned by the 39-16 Celtics. The teams could potentially face in the Eastern Conference Finals in May.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens wants his team to regain focus after the loss in Toronto. "We got our butts kicked by a really good team (the Raptors) who physically overwhelmed us from a speed and physicality standpoint. That's the part that really stood out to me. I thought their pace and their physicality were different than ours," said Stevens, the leading candidate to win Coach of the Year this season.
Irving, noting that the Wizards are a potential foe in the postseason, wants his teammates to step up to the challenge on Thursday. Irving, who arrived from Cleveland last year in a blockbuster trade, leads Boston with 24.7 points and 5.0 assists.
"Me not necessarily playing with the pace I should have been playing with all night. Also, the effort on both ends. That's the responsibility I have as one of the leaders on this team in integrating myself as best I can. I didn't do a good job of that and it kind of led to some of our mistakes," Irving said after the loss at the Air Canada Centre, via ESPN.
With the NBA Trade Deadline coinciding with the game, the Celtics could be without point guard Marcus Smart, who is reportedly available in talks. Boston Celtics vs Washington Wizards live streaming, Celtics vs Wizards live streaming and Celtics live streaming info follows.
Celtics vs Wizards live stream: Watch NBA online
Date: Thursday, Feb. 8 (Friday AEDT)
Start Time: 8 p.m. ET (Local Time), 12 p.m. AEDT (Friday)
TV Channel: TNT (USA), ESPN (Australia)
Live Stream: NBA League Pass (Global), NBAOnTNT (USA), WatchESPN (Australia)
