The Washington Wizards will host the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of this Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoff Series. The Celtics lead the series 2-1, while both teams have defended home court in the first seven meetings dating back to the regular season, and the rivalry between these two teams is  heating up.

    When you’re a young, but experienced like this Celtics group is you don’t settle for a series tied heading back to your home floor. You step on the other team’s throats and never let them see the light of day. They blew the opportunity to do that Thursday night in a 116-89 bloodbath loss in Game 3. Sunday, they have an opportunity to redeem that loss, and they must take advantage to hopefully shorten this series and head into the Conference Finals (hopefully) well rested. Here are my five important factors heading into Sunday night’s contest at the Verizon Center in the Nation’s capital that could make this a 3-1 series going back to Boston.

Kelly Oubre Jr. Being Suspended Makes a HUGE Difference

As absurd as that sounds I truly believe the statement above 100%. When you look at the bigger picture of this series, I think it’s going to come down to both teams bench. The Celtics include eleven players in their system, including a bench filled with F Amir Johnson, G Marcus Smart, F Kelly Olynyk, rookie Jaylen Brown, G Terry Rozier, and F Jonas Jerebko.

Click: Oubre Jr. Decking the Klynyk

On the other side of things, Washington Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks has been limiting his bench to just Oubre Jr, G Brandon Jennings, and F Bojan Bogdanovic. With only playing eight players, losing one could mess up chemistry.

The even bigger point of this suspension is how a team who lacks depth can last deep into the 4th quarter/overtime. You saw this happen in Game 2, where once we got to OT the Celtics were the well more conditioned and well-rested team due to their depth that comes from the bench.

The Physical Battle

    Game 1 & 2 the Celtics played two great second halves where they were winning those 50-50 ball scrums, played lockdown defense led by Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart. The true grit came out of those games at home that told you who the tougher team was. Celtics star Isaiah Thomas refused to leave the floor after losing a tooth in the first quarter, this is the playoffs and this calls for big time moments such as that. At home they played the tough guy card so well that Wizards G Bradley Beal complained about the Celtics play, “I get held up coming off every screen. Coming off a pick-and-roll, I get held. I get fouled a lot, but it’s the playoffs. You can’t complain about it. You can’t be passive. We’ve got to push back, fight back.”  Say all you want Beal, but you’ve been a no show this series thus far.

Game 3 was a different story where the Wizards fight came right back…literally. Wizards G Kelly Oubre Jr. after a controversial screen by Celtics F Kelly Olynyk, charged after Olynyk and lowered his shoulder to drop him right in front of the referee. Oubre Jr. received a flagrant-2 and therefore was ejected from the game.

That was the highlight of the game, but could have defined it all. The Wizards after the game being tied at 12 mid-way through the first quarter, the Wizards went on a 22-0 run that sparked the win. By the 4th quarter the stars weren’t even in the game, because the Wizards blew them out of the building.

Games for the rest of this series will be won and lost by who ultimately wins the physical battle. If the Celtics come out like they have all season, they have more depth than the Wizards and guys who can contribute more at both ends of the court. If you asked me I’d take Marcus Smart in a fight versus any guard in the NBA, not that it will come down to that…right? (Ask Jimmy Butler, he’s on the couch)

Coming Out Strong

    The Celtics are being outscored 119-70 in the first quarter in the first three games of this series. That is just straight up pathetic, I was used to this team playing good competition in the regular season, coming right out of the gate with a great 1st quarter and then not being able to hold the lead in the 4th quarter. At the end of the day Celtics Nation will take the “W”, but at what point in this series are we going to say “enough is enough”? or “I’m not turning on the TV until the 2nd Quarter”?

These 1st quarter outburst by the Wizards isn’t just luck either, they might have one of the best starting fives in the league right about now. Especially against the Celtics, if they are going to play small then C’s Center Al Horford needs to come up with some big rebounds, and guards other than Isaiah Thomas need to hit their shots early. Overall, I think it is pivotal for the Celtics to have a great first quarter, but at the same time if they can close the game out in the 4th quarter like they did in the first two games then I guess “no harm, no foul”.

Stop Making Marcin Gortat Look Like a Superstar

    Wizards C Marcin Gortat is absolutely embarrassing the Celtics front court in these first three contests. The 9-year veteran is averaging 14.3 PPG along with 13.0 RPG, which is way above his regular season numbers. Gortat has stepped up big time for the Wizards, and could definitely be one of the key factors if Washington was to go on and win this series.

I expect Celtics Al Horford to come out of the gate running in the first quarter and make Gortat a priority. Olynyk and even F Amir Johnson who hasn’t seen that much time this series have been no match for Gortat. You got to think that right behind Wizards G John Wall, Gortat has been the difference in making this a very competitive series.

“King of the Fourth”

    Like the Celtics did in both Games 1 & 2, they finished off the Wizards in the 4th quarter with pure shooting by Thomas (29 pts in 4th/OT in Game 2) and big stops by this Celtics core to pick up the first two games at home. Their wasn’t really much of a 4th quarter in Game 3 as the Wizards controlled the majority of the game.

The big thing here is for the Celtics to restrain themselves from excessive fouls. In Game 3 early on, the Celtics were in the penalty for most of the 1st half and Washington guards such as Wall and Bradley Beal took advantage of their free throws. Washington was 22-25 from the line in Game 3.

Like your typical Celtics fanatic, nothing makes me more ecstatic then seeing Isaiah Thomas own the 4th quarter. But if the Wizards shut him down with double-teams like good teams do, Bradley, and F Jae Crowder need to step up and hit big shots down the stretch in order for the Celtics to close out games.

The bottom-line here is that the Celtics need to play a full four quarters Sunday night, and need to stay away from the drama that sparked up last game. If the game is close come the 4th quarter, expect them to turn it on because this team has one of the deepest teams in terms of depth in the league, while on the other hand the Wizards are the complete opposite. Big night for the Celtics, win now and close it at home Wednesday.. #CelticsIn5