The Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics don’t like each other and that dates back to the regular season. However, after a Game 1 that included a Markieff Morris injury and Isaiah Thomas operating without a tooth, things greatly heated up in Game 2 as the two teams combined to produce a laundry list of injuries and mishaps due to highly physical play.
To get things started, Morris and Horford became tangled up again and, this time, it was Morris delivering the business end within the first few minutes of action.
Morris thought his Game 1 injury at the hands of Horford might have happened on purpose. He event went as far as to directly ask Horford about this before the game. While Horford denied any intent, it doesn’t seem like Morris bought that.
Later in the first half, Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall had a scary issue that made the NBA world collectively gasp about a wrist injury. He ended up shaking it off, but at the time, it looked bad.
Hey @NBAOfficial Al Hortford steps under Markieff Morris to sprain MM's ankle, now Kelly Olynyk steps under John Wall to hurt Wall's wrist? pic.twitter.com/svObLnZWZW
— Dr. Lös Real Polyamorous Tantric Sex Guru (@LosRealAli) May 3, 2017
Shortly thereafter, Boston’s Kelly Olynyk – who was involved with Wall as well – tripped Bradley Beal and Washington’s “other” tremendous backcourt player suffered as a result. Again, he ended up being fine.
Okay @NBAOfficial – Kelly Olynyk does it again! He just crossed over his left leg to trip Bradley Beal. #WizCeltics pic.twitter.com/wVG4wg0q9F
— Dr. Lös Real Polyamorous Tantric Sex Guru (@LosRealAli) May 3, 2017
Near the end of the period, there was less malice involved, but Avery Bradley was forced to locker room with a hip injury. He eventually made his way back onto the court, although he looked like his hip was bugging him.
Celtics' Avery Bradley head to locker room holding his right hip pic.twitter.com/V9xSItmPiq
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 3, 2017
Otto Porter then caught the wrong end of a push-off from Isaiah Thomas and made a scene as blood gushed from his face.
Wizards' Otto Porter heads to locker room with blood gushing from nose after blow from Celtics' Isaiah Thomas pic.twitter.com/jLXIebVFKE
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 3, 2017
Finally, Thomas banged his head hard off the floor and, while that was not anyone’s “fault” from the Celtics, it seemed oddly fitting that yet another physical incident took place. Of course, Thomas caught an elbow to the face in Game 1 of the series and lost a tooth.
https://twitter.com/Scott_Charlton/status/859584084984680448
In the midst of the issues, a very entertaining basketball game broke out, which is probably the bigger focus in the grand scheme. With that said, chippy play can often escalate in a hurry within a playoff series and things between the Celtics and Wizards seem to be getting more tense by the minute. We’re getting at least two more games of Boston vs. Washington, and it would be a surprise if things cooled off between the two squads.
