WASHINGTON – – Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes, and the Boston Celtics posted 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 halftime in the rebuilding Wizards’ season opener, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in his Washington debut.

After taking their first double-digit lead just before halftime, the Celtics outscored the Wizards 34-19 in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

Takeaways

Celtics: Two games into their title defense, Boston still needs to seriously get a few wins. Tatum did not play in the fourth quarter on Thursday. Brown and White were the last starters to leave with 8:04 remaining.

Wizards: With rookies Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington in an extremely young starting lineup, the first half was mainly an encouraging performance. But Washington’s third-quarter struggles reflected a recurring problem from last season. Carrington’s night ended with a possible injury after an awkward fall in the fourth quarter.

Key moment

Boston closed the first half on a 10-1 run, building its largest lead to date. Tatum hit a pair of 3-pointers, one from each wing, then fed Brown on the second of back-to-back running layups to put Boston ahead 64-54.

Key stat

Washington’s starting lineup had an average age of 22.72 years old. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the youngest in the NBA so far this season, and the youngest in the franchise since the league began tracking starters in 1970.

Next

Both play again Saturday, with Boston traveling to Detroit and the Wizards hosting Cleveland.

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