Preview: Boston @ Washington

via bostonherald.com

After an emotional loss to the Miami Heat the Celtics suffered last night, they hope to bounce back tonight against the Washington Wizards. They will have to do so with limited back court depth; here is the injury report for tonight's game:

Celtics:

Rajon Rondo, PG (Knee)

Avery Bradley, SG (Ankle)

Jerryd Bayless, PG/SG (Toe)

Wizards:

Al Harrington, PF (Knee)

Trevor Booker, PF (Ankle)

Without Rondo, Bradley, and Bayless, players like Phil Pressey, Chris Johnson, and Vander Blue will have to carry the load offensively, which isn't very promising. The Celtics are in a very tough position right now at the guard positions due to injuries and the Jordan Crawford trade, so this game is kind of like an experiment to see how good all these über young players are.

Washington, who has won 4 out of their last 5 games, are very strong in the back court with Bradley Beal and John Wall. Look for them to score in bunches against the Celtics without Rondo and Bradley. The Wizards are fifth in the Eastern Conference and they recently beat the Heat; everything seems to be coming together with them because of the acquisition for big man Marcin Gortat, who anchors the defense and is solid offensively.

This game will be a tough one for the Celtics to win because it's on a back-to-back, they have a ton of injuries, and the Wizards are playing very good basketball right now. With that said, Brad Stevens and the Celtics will make it a scrappy, low scoring game which will give them a chance to win in the end. But their lack of depth and running out of steam late in the game is inevitable for this group, something we witnessed last night in Boston.

Predicted Final Score:
WAS: 96
BOS: 88