Wizards Crushed at Home

Washington dropped to a dismal 11-57 en route to an embarrassing 130-104 loss against the Boston Celtics. Jordan Poole scored 31 points for the NBA-worst Wizards, who were without four starters. Rookie Bilal Coulibaly sat out with a bruised right wrist. Boston went 17 for 28 from 3-point range in the first half. The Celtics shot 48% from beyond the arc despite removing their starters midway through the third quarter. While his team was on the wrong end of a blowout, Poole played well in his second game filling in for Tyus Jones (back).

Not only did he shoot over 50% from the field on Sunday, but Poole committed only one turnover, which is shocking. The efficiency was there, but the Wizards would have enjoyed more of that earlier in the year before the season was lost. Corey Kispert is scoring 17.8 points through his last four contests, hitting 4.0 threes per game at a 53.3 percent clip. At this juncture of the year, they are merely playing the role of spoiler. The Jordan Poole project has not worked out well for the Wiz.

Rockets Crush the Cavs

Houston notched its fifth straight win as Jalen Green had 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 117-103 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jabari Smith Jr. added 20 points, Amen Thompson had 18 and Fred VanVleet finished with 13 points and 16 assists.

The Rockets have won seven of their last eight, pulling within three games of the Los Angeles Lakers for the final Western Conference play-in spot. “I think the switching affected them and forced them to play a lot more 1-on-1,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka told Associated Press reporters. “We did a good job with all the bodies we had. I loved our effort, defensively, from the start, and specifically in the third quarter to come out with that start and really kind of put it away early there. It was a great win for us.” Houston led 70-54 at halftime and entered the fourth quarter with a 25-point lead. It was a rare road win for a Rockets club that has gone 9-24 away from the Toyota Center. Houston is behind the Golden State Warriors and Lakers and needs one of them to falter down the stretch to earn a play-in spot.