Tristan Thompson played another impressive game for Celtics in a solid win against the Washington Wizards. He put up 12 points and 12 rebounds on 4/9 shooting from the field. Primarily, Davis Bertans was the one guarding him and Thompson helped to lock down the paint.
The Celtics mainly played through Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker as their go to scoring options but Thompson’s dominance in the rebounding battle allowed them to take more shots with ease.
The Celtics’ defense the whole night allowed players such as Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal to get funneled into the paint where Thompson could contest their layups. Moreover, the defensive tenacity of the Celtics lead to Westbrook shooting 6/18, a number well below his season average field goal percentage.
Thompson did not score a lot but he was a scoring option for the Celtics. His presence in the paint allowed for 3-point shooters to be left open allowing Kemba to have a field day off the high pick and roll exploding for 6 threes on the evening.
In the end, the Celtics pulled out the win mainly due to the flashy scoring show put on by Tatum and Walker. Yet had Thompson not been so solid with the constant rebounds and help off of pick and rolls then the Wizards could have very well found themselves taking on the Nets in the first round of the playoffs.